COLLIER COUNTY, Fla. — The Collier County Sheriff's Office arrested three men suspected of stealing catalytic converters after a more-than-50-mile pursuit early Thursday morning.
Around 2 a.m., a witness called the Collier County Sheriff's Office to report the sound of a saw cutting metal from a vehicle, consistent with catalytic converter theft, coming from the 100 block of Bedzel Circle. The caller also reported seeing multiple individuals driving away from the scene in a white BMW.
Deputies located the suspected vehicle on Beck Blvd. and attempted to conduct a traffic stop; however, the suspect sped up and led deputies on a pursuit onto I-75.
Florida Highway Patrol was able to deploy stop sticks and slow down the BMW near Mile Marker 64.
Gustavo Adolfo Sosa, 21, Michael William Antunez, 20, and Richard Segarra, 21, were taken into custody and charged with multiple felonies including grand theft. Sosa, the driver, is also charged with fleeing and eluding.
Inside the vehicle, deputies found 10 catalytic converters that had been cut and removed from vehicles, some of which came from Toyota Tacomas and Tundras. CCSO said these models are often targeted in converter theft because they have two catalytic converters on the same pipe.
