A suspect was arrested Saturday afternoon in connection with an auto burglary, a hit and run collision and resisting arrest, among other offenses.
According to UCPD spokesperson Sgt. Sabrina Reich, officers received a report of an auto burglary at Coffer Dam, near Centennial Drive and the Strawberry Recreational Pool about 3:24 p.m. Saturday. Reich said the suspect, later identified as Rahsaan Lamonthe, allegedly stole some items from the car, but Reich did not believe that the car was occupied when he broke into it.
“We learned that the suspect was involved in an auto burglary and some items were taken from the car that he had broken into,” Reich said. “(Officers) started looking for him in the area and (they) spotted him near College and Ashby Avenues — they had a description (of him).”
Officers saw Lamonthe driving southbound on College Avenue, and when they initiated a traffic stop to pull him over, he tried to evade the officers and ended up causing a traffic collision at the intersection of College and Ashby Avenues, Reich said. Initially, the occupants of the two vehicles that were involved in the collision said they were not injured, but later said they sustained some minor injuries from the accident.
Lamonthe drove a little bit farther down the street after the collision, according to Reich. He continued westbound on Ashby Avenue and then exited the car and fled the scene on foot. He merely made it to Benvenue and Ashby Avenues, however, before officers apprehended him about 3:35 p.m.
Reich emphasized that this incident has no connection to the hit-and-run that occurred during the Milo Yiannopoulos protests Wednesday.
“This was a totally separated, unrelated incident, as part of him trying to elude our officers,” Reich said.
According to Reich, Lamonthe has no affiliation to the campus, and is currently being held in custody.
In addition to facing charges for burglary, causing a hit-and-run collision resulting in injuries, resisting arrest, failure to obey traffic officer and driving on a suspended license, Lamonthe was also allegedly found to be violating the terms of his parole. But Reich did not know what his original charges were or where he was previously held in custody.
“I don’t know the terms of his parole,” Reich said. “But one of the terms would be not committing burglary.”
