Full Notification

On Monday, 10-31-16, at 8:23 pm, a Sebastopol Police Officer was on duty and saw a subject riding a bicycle on Gravenstein Highway North. The Officer stopped the subject for a vehicle code violation.

The subject identified himself as Benjamin Zaragoza-Rodriguez, age 19 of Sebastopol. He was a convicted Felon and on probation for previous convictions of carrying a concealed weapon as a gang member, fighting in public, and battery.

While the Officer was detaining Zaragoza-Rodriguez pursuant to his probation terms, another Sebastopol Police Officer, who was on foot patrol in the busy Trick-or-Treat neighborhood of Florence Avenue, was contacted by a subject who stated that he had just been the victim of theft of his bicycle.

That Officer radioed the description of the stolen bicycle provided by the victim, to the Officer who had detained Zaragoza-Rodriguez. The description exactly matched the bicycle in Zaragoza-Rodriguez' possession.

Zaragoza-Rodriguez lied to the Officer and said that the bicycle in his possession belonged to his mother, Maria De Lourdes Zaragoza, and he had her permission to ride it. The Officer called Maria to verify this story. Maria, who had already seen the bicycle in her son's possession, lied to the Officer and stated that the bicycle was in fact hers and she gave Zaragoza-Rodriguez permission to ride it. Maria knew the color of the bicycle, but was unable to verify the make.

The Officer from Florence Avenue brought the victim to the scene of the bicycle stop and positively identified the bicycle possessed by Zaragoza-Rodriguez as his. The victim was able to provide very specific details about the bike that only its true owner would know, including the combination to its cable lock.

Zaragoza-Rodriguez was arrested for possession of stolen property and violations of his probations.

Since Maria had obstructed and delayed the Investigating Officer by lying on behalf of her son, Officers went to her house and arrested her too.

Both mother and son were transported to the Sonoma County Jail for booking.