BART serial car looter charged

The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office filed charges against Luis Carlos Deltoro, a suspect in a number of car burglaries in Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) parking lots.

San Leandro police arrested Deltoro on July 21 for auto burglary, and alerted BART police of the arrest since the transit agency was investigating the same suspect.

BART police had Deltoro’s fingerprints lifted from three previous auto burglaries, which occurred in BART’s Hayward, San Leandro and Bay Fair station parking lots in the last six months, according to the transit agency.

The fingerprints found by BART police led the district attorney to file charges against the suspect.

The charges against Deltoro include four counts of second degree burglary of a vehicle, said Stephanie Chan, a spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office.

A second suspect Christian Deltoro was also apprehended by San Leandro police on July 21 and charged with four counts of second degree burglary of a vehicle, as well.

Both have a court date on Aug. 8 at 9 a.m. at the Hayward Hall of Justice, according to Chan.

BART Police Chief Clinton Rainey credits the hiring of an outside forensic specialist last year to help expedite the identification process:

“BART police is now able to process forensic evidence in a matter of weeks versus months.”

Rainey also said a quick turnaround in processing evidence can help in finding the suspects and possibly even finding the stolen property.

BART reports there were 271 incidents of car burglaries in the last quarter reported by riders.

Jerold Chinn

Jerold serves as a reporter and San Francisco Bureau Chief for SFBay covering transportation and occasionally City Hall and the Mayor's Office in San Francisco. His work on transportation has been recognized by the San Francisco Press Club. Born and raised in San Francisco, he graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in journalism. Jerold previously wrote for the San Francisco Public Press, a nonprofit, noncommercial news organization. When not reporting, you can find Jerold taking Muni to check out new places to eat in the city.