PSLPD Officers nab South Florida trio in hotspot area of catalytic converter thefts

Port St Lucie, Fl (treasurecoast.com) – The Port St Lucie Police nabbed a South Florida trio in a hotspot area of catalytic converter thefts.

Yesterday morning at 3:20am, Officers were patrolling the 1700-Blk of SW Biltmore St due to an uptick in catalytic converter thefts, when they observed a black Mercedes SUV parked on the road with its rear passenger door open. Officers made contact with two females inside the vehicle, 33 year old Danaisy Leal Valle and 44 year old Odalys Perez Hasty.

Then, officers observed multiple catalytic converters inside the vehicle and began to canvass the area for other suspects. Officers located two males wearing all black clothing crouched behind shrubbery in the area. The males immediately fled on foot and began to jump over fences, refusing to obey all the Officers commands to stop. Officers pursued the suspects on foot and deployed a taser on 37 year old, Manuel Guillermo Diaz Fuentes, who was subsequently taken into custody. The second male suspect continued to flee on foot and was not located. Inside Manuel’s backpack was a reciprocating saw with multiple spare batteries and spare saw blades.

The three suspects were arrested and taken to jail for loitering or prowling and possession of burglary tools. If your vehicle was parked in the 1700 -Blk of SW Biltmore St, please check to make your catalytic converter is not missing. If you have any information pertaining to this incident or observed these suspects on your camera system, please contact Detective Penney at 772-344-4062.