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Wednesday, July 30, 1997

Man's car stolen, carjacked and almost stolen a third time in 11 days

SAN ANTONIO (AP) - No one has to tell Ben Monreal that a 1979 Monte Carlo is a popular car with thieves.

He knows that.

In a span of 11 days, Monreal's car has been stolen from his driveway, carjacked from him and almost stolen again.

Good thing it has a weather-beaten paint job and tattered upholstery, he says.

The latest attempt to steal it came Sunday, but the would-be thief was foiled because the battery was dead when he tried to take the vehicle from Monreal's driveway.

San Antonio patrolman Danny Zamora remembers July 17, the day that Monreal's car was stolen for the first time. Zamora says he solved the case of the stolen Monte Carlo twice that day.

"The reported stolen vehicle was the first (shift) call out of the chute for me," Zamora said.

Zamora located the car that afternoon by San Fernando Cemetery, and Monreal picked it up later in the day.

Monreal was driving home when a car pulled alongside him. It's occupants waved and told him to pull over, he said. Two assailants threatened him with a gun, and one of them hit him in the face, he said. He fled, leaving the car behind.

Zamora said he was startled when a fellow officer, who investigated the carjacking, "told me to be on the lookout for the Monte Carlo again, because it was stolen again."

"I strongly suspected the same people stole it, but I couldn't prove it," Zamora said. "It would have been highly coincidental that two separate people stole it."

So he returned to the cemetery, he said, and soon spotted the car in a nearby public housing project. While waiting for backup, Zamora saw the car take off.

The officer pursued and arrested Melinda Bermudez, 35, and Michael Solis, 19. She was released from Bexar County Jail after posting bond. Solis was ordered held without bond.

But the car ordeal was not over. Before all of the fingerprint dust could be removed, someone tried to steal it out of Monreal's driveway.

The would-be thief broke the ignition switch that Monreal had just finished repairing, but was thwarted because the battery wouldn't start, Monreal said. Send a Letter to the Editor about This Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story
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