Man Allegedly Steals Car to Drive to Police

Joseph Rincon had a problem. Anaheim police had unwittingly impounded several items he had worked hard to steal, and he had no way to get there to retrieve them, officials said.

His solution, according to police: Hot-wire a car.

“I can’t recall anybody ever driving a stolen car to the Police Department before,” Anaheim Lt. Joe Vargas said, shortly after Rincon’s arrest Tuesday. And to do it in order to retrieve stolen property, “that’s just putting icing on the cake.”

Rincon’s first brush with law enforcement occurred Tuesday, when the 43-year-old Garden Grove man was pulled over for driving 70 mph in a 40 mph zone and for weaving through traffic near La Palma and Magnolia avenues, police said.

Rincon also was cited for driving with a suspended license and the car was impounded, along with the television set, stereo and microwave oven inside.

Property clerks told Rincon he would have to go to the Anaheim Police Department if he wanted to reclaim the goods. Soon afterward, officers spotted Rincon driving erratically and arguing with other motorists as he pulled into the Police Department’s parking lot in a red 1966 Ford Mustang, police said.

“He was driving like a maniac, again,” Vargas said.

Suspicious police quickly learned that the Mustang had just been reported stolen from Garden Grove. They also learned that the 1992 Honda Accord that Rincon had been driving earlier had been reported stolen from his estranged wife in Los Angeles, police said.

Los Angeles sheriff’s investigators later said the appliances matched those taken during a burglary that occurred about the same time the Accord was stolen.

Officers arrested Rincon on suspicion of auto theft and possession of stolen property.

Rincon at first denied being in the Mustang, Sgt. Ed Dougherty said. But as officers led him away from that vehicle, “they asked if he wanted his jacket out of the car. He said ‘yes.’ ”

“Brilliant. Just brilliant,” Dougherty said.