Roseville police used the Internet to arrest three suspects for allegedly stealing tires and rims.
The suspects tried to sell the stolen items on craigslist, the popular Internet advertising site, and undercover officers answered the ads to make the arrests, police reported.
Department spokeswoman Dee Dee Gunther said police were contacted Friday morning by employees of an auto dealership on Riverside Avenue who reported that custom tires and rims from two vehicles on the lot had been stolen.
The thieves left the vehicles propped up on plastic crates, she said.
On Saturday, the employees noticed that the tires and rims were being advertised on craigslist in separate ads, Gunther said.
Undercover officers contacted one seller, met with him at an apartment complex in Citrus Heights and arrested him, she said. He was identified as Sam Shahbazi, 20, of Sacramento.
Other undercover officers met with two Sacramento men in a store parking lot on Northgate Boulevard to "buy" the other set of tires and rims, Gunther said. They arrested Gabriel Castillon Garcia, 41, and his son, Edwin Gabriel Garcia, 19, she said.
In addition, officers noticed that the Chevrolet Suburban driven by the Garcias was equipped with custom tires and rims, Gunther said. Those tires and rims were identified as having been stolen from another Roseville auto dealership on Aug. 19, she said.
Gunther said all three men were booked on suspicion of grand theft, conspiracy and possession of stolen property. Each has been released from the Placer County jail in Auburn on a promise to appear in court, she said.
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