Mother, son arrested in Sebastopol

A Sebastopol man and his mother were arrested on Halloween, with the son suspected of stealing a bike and his mother of lying to cover for him, according to Sebastopol police.

The two went to the Sonoma County Jail on Halloween night, according to a police news release.

The alleged caper happened in the popular Halloween trick-or-treat corridor of Florence Avenue.

Just before 8:30 p.m. an officer stopped a man on a bicycle on nearby Gravenstein Highway North for an undisclosed vehicle code violation. The rider, Benjamin Zarogoza-Rodriguez, 19, of Sebastopol, was on probation for prior convictions including being a gang member with a concealed weapon, according to police.

About the same time, an officer patrolling Florence Avenue was stopped by a person who said someone had just stolen his bike. The bike description was broadcast to officers and matched the one with Zaragoza-Rodriguez, police said.

The suspect said the bicycle belonged to his mother, who verified the information, but couldn’t identify its make, according to the news release.

The man who had reported his bike stolen was able to describe it, including the combination to the bike’s cable lock, convincing officers he was the owner.

Officers arrested Zaragoza-Rodriguez on suspicion of possessing stolen property and violating his probation. They also arrested his mother, Maria De Lourdes Zaragoza, on suspicsion of misdemeanor obstructing and delaying officers.

Zaragoza-Rodriguez remained in jail Wednesday, held without bail because of the probation violations.

- Randi Rossmann