2 arrested by Fountain Valley Police posing as stolen cement-mixer buyers

A pair of Santa Ana residents suspected of stealing a $3,000 cement-mixer in Fountain Valley and attempting to sell it thought they had an arrangement with a buyer, but were instead met by police who arrested them over the weekend, officials said Tuesday, June 30.

Richard Moya, 39, and Manuel Erenas, 41, were taken into custody Sunday in the area of Euclid and Fifth Streets in Santa Ana, Fountain Valley Police Department officials said in a news release. They had been waiting there for people they believed were prospective buyers responding to an online listing, but were actually police officers.

The suspects were trying to sell a cement-mixer that was allegedly stolen from a Fountain Valley company, police said. Surveillance footage showed the construction equipment towed by a van that had also been reported stolen from a nearby business.

Officers recovered the mixer and van when they arrested Moya and Erenas Sunday, police said. Detectives also searched one of the suspect’s homes on the 5200 block of Fifth street, where they found a trailer that had been stolen in Garden Grove, as well as numerous tools that investigators suspect were also stolen.

“Based on the total number of items stolen we estimate the total value to be in excess of $13,000,” Fountain Valley Police Sgt. Donald Farmer said.

Moya was arrested on suspicion of grand theft, possession of a stolen and possession of stolen property, police said. Erenas was booked on suspicion of possession of stolen property, and a prior vehicle theft.

The mixer and van were returned to their owners in working order, Farmer said. Fountain Valley Police were working to determine where the tools found in the suspect’s home might have come from.