Flock hit near UC Berkeley leads to spate of felony charges
According to court papers, Nelson Sanabria-Gudiel stole nearly $10,000 in property from two apartments near Cal while residents slept.
A man has been charged with vehicle theft, identity theft and two hot-prowl burglaries after a recent Flock hit in Berkeley, according to police and court papers.
Police wrote that the man was out on bail at the time of his arrest after being charged with carrying a concealed firearm.
Berkeley's new Flock camera system has been online since October and has already resulted in multiple arrests.
Berkeley officers initially got a Flock alert Friday at about 3:20 p.m. about a stolen Toyota Prius that had been linked to multiple burglaries, BPD said this week in response to a Scanner inquiry.
The driver was in the Southside neighborhood near UC Berkeley when police got the alert, BPD said.
Officers spotted the green Prius and pulled over the driver in the 2500 block of Shattuck Avenue, south of Dwight Way.
Police identified the driver as 27-year-old Nelson Sanabria-Gudiel (no address listed), BPD said.
Berkeley police said the burglaries both took place Oct. 29 in the 2200 block of Blake Street (between Ellsworth and Fulton streets).
According to court papers, Sanabria-Gudiel went into at least two unlocked apartments while residents were sleeping and took nearly $10,000 worth of property: from one, two MacBook computers, two iPads and credit cards; from the other, a laptop and iPad.
Police said Sanabria-Gudiel tried to make a fraudulent purchase at the Berkeley Apple Store after the burglaries.
Surveillance footage linked him to the crimes, BPD said.
On Friday, when police searched the stolen Prius, they found DMV documents linked to Sanabria-Gudiel, according to charging papers.
Officers also found "close to 100 pieces of personal identifying information" for other people in the car, BPD wrote.
Police said the DMV records also tied Sanabria-Gudiel to a stolen white Lexus that had been recovered in a Berkeley parking garage near campus on Oct. 20.
When police recovered the Lexus from the garage, at 2467 Warring St., they also found personal information from seven potential victims, BPD wrote.
Nelson Sanabria-Gudiel. BPD
On Monday, the Alameda County DA's office charged Sanabria-Gudiel with six felonies: the burglary of an occupied home (two counts) and grand theft, all from Oct. 30; and vehicle theft, receiving stolen property (in relation to the Prius) and ID theft involving at least 10 victims, all from Friday, Nov. 29.
According to jail records, Sanabria-Gudiel works as a landlord.
He entered not-guilty pleas Tuesday before Alameda County Superior Court Judge Elena Condes, according to court records.
In addition to his open case related to carrying a concealed firearm, Sanabria-Gudiel also has "several prior arrests" in Alameda County related to vehicle theft, police said in court papers.
As of Wednesday, he remained in custody at Santa Rita Jail with a bail of $165,000.
He is scheduled for a procedural hearing next week.
According to a recent memo, the city has installed 32 Flock license plate readers, with more expected to come online later pending Caltrans approval.
In addition to the Flock cameras, the Berkeley City Council also approved more than a dozen fixed surveillance cameras on city property last year.
Some of those cameras are already in place, with seven more "expected to be installed by the end of the year." Others are on hold pending Caltrans review.
