SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Two Los Angeles-area men were arrested early on Friday, November 6, after a catalytic converter was cut from a pickup truck in the Santa Barbara area and the car carrying the alleged thieves led deputies on a Highway 101 pursuit into Ventura County that ended with a spike strip, a foot chase and a search through a wash basin and a drainage tunnel, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office said.
Source: Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office
Deputies recovered nine catalytic converters, four reciprocating saws and a floor jack from the suspect vehicle — the full working kit of a converter-theft crew, recovered in one car. A third person who was in the car ran off and, despite a search involving two canine units, was not found.
2:41 a.m.: a Tundra loses its converter on Glenbrook Street
At approximately 2:41 a.m. on Friday, November 6, 2026, sheriff's deputies received a report of a catalytic converter theft in the 4700 block of Glenbrook Street in the Santa Barbara area. The victim told deputies that about 15 minutes earlier, suspects driving a white Toyota Camry had stolen the catalytic converter from his Toyota Tundra, the sheriff's office said.
A short time later, deputies who were monitoring Highway 101 through Carpinteria spotted a white Toyota Camry travelling at a high rate of speed near Reynolds Avenue. Deputies followed the car and attempted a traffic enforcement stop. The driver did not yield, and a pursuit began southbound on Highway 101.
Spike strip in Ventura County, then a foot chase
The California Highway Patrol was called in to assist. CHP officers successfully deployed a spike strip near Highway 101 and Telephone Road in Ventura County, the sheriff's office said. Even after driving over the spike strip, the Camry continued southbound before leaving the freeway at Johnson Drive, where all three occupants abandoned the car and fled on foot.
Sheriff's deputies, CHP officers and Ventura Police Department officers then coordinated a search of the surrounding area, including a wash basin near the Ventura Auto Mall. Deputies quickly apprehended one suspect. A second suspect — identified by deputies as the driver — was found attempting to flee into a drainage tunnel. The third suspect was not located, despite what the sheriff's office called an extensive search involving CHP and Ventura police personnel, including two canine units.
The two men in custody — and the charges
The two men were identified as Cesar Ortiz Gomez, 46, the driver, and Marvin Angel Aguirre, 22, a passenger, both from the Los Angeles area, the sheriff's office said. Both were booked into the Santa Barbara County Jail. The arrests are allegations: both men are presumed innocent unless and until the charges are proved in court.
Gomez was arrested on suspicion of felony grand theft, conspiracy, vehicle tampering, felony evading a peace officer, felony vandalism, possession of burglary tools, resisting or obstructing a peace officer, speeding, and possession of stolen property. His bail was set at $75,000, the sheriff's office said.
Source: KSBY reporting, via EIN News monitoring
Aguirre was arrested on suspicion of felony grand theft, conspiracy, vehicle tampering, felony vandalism, possession of burglary tools, resisting or obstructing a peace officer, and possession of stolen property. Deputies said Aguirre also had an outstanding warrant from Redondo Beach. His bail was likewise set at $75,000.
Why converters, and why a truck like the Tundra
Catalytic converters are a long-running theft target because the emissions-cleaning devices contain small amounts of precious metals, including platinum, palladium and rhodium, which can be sold on. With a battery-powered reciprocating saw — exactly the tool deputies say they found four of in the Camry — a converter can be cut from underneath a parked vehicle in minutes, usually in the dark hours when streets are empty. Higher-riding trucks and SUVs are especially exposed because their ground clearance lets a thief slide underneath without even jacking the vehicle up; in this case deputies say a floor jack was in the car as well.
For the victim, the loss is not just the part itself. A vehicle with its converter cut away is loud, unsafe to drive and off the road until a replacement is fitted — a real cost in money and lost workdays for owners who depend on a truck for their livelihood, a situation many tradespeople and delivery and trucking workers across California will recognise.
Highway 101: the corridor where it played out
Highway 101 is the main coastal highway through Santa Barbara, Carpinteria and Ventura — the route commuters, tourists and freight traffic share along this stretch of the California coast. The pursuit ran southbound on that corridor in the early hours, from the Reynolds Avenue area of Carpinteria, across the county line, to Telephone Road and Johnson Drive in Ventura, where it ended on foot rather than in a crash. The sheriff's office reported no collision and no injuries in its account of the pursuit.
The Sheriff's Office urges residents to park in well-lit areas and use secure garages where available, and to report suspicious activity around parked vehicles — especially anyone using tools or working underneath a vehicle at unusual hours.
What happens next
The investigation is still open on two fronts, the sheriff's office said: identifying and locating the outstanding third suspect, and determining where the nine recovered catalytic converters came from — work that could connect the car to other theft victims in Santa Barbara County, Ventura County or beyond. The two men in custody face the court process in Santa Barbara County on the charges listed above, with bail set at $75,000 each. The sheriff's office thanked the California Highway Patrol and the Ventura Police Department for their help in ending the pursuit and apprehending two of the suspects.