By Daily Press staff
At 2:45 p.m. two SMPD motor officers observed a 1986 Oldsmobile sedan with no license plates traveling eastbound on Colorado Avenue near the 1700 block of Centinela Boulevard, police said.
Officers stopped the vehicle and immediately noticed that the ignition and steering column had been tampered with. Also, the vehicle didn’t have keys and pliers were used to start the vehicle, police said.
The driver, Charles Ray Spratley, 35, of Compton, produced a California identification card to officers while his passenger, Charles Sanders, a 37-year-old transient, took off on foot.
Police set up a perimeter in the surrounding area and with the help of surrounding police agencies, a K-9 unit and the Hawthorne Police Department’s helicopter, Sanders was found in the backyard of a home about two blocks away from where the stolen car was.
Spratley was arrested on scene for grand theft auto and outstanding warrants. Sanders was arrested in the 1700 block of Carmelina Avenue in West LA at 5:54 p.m. They were taken to Santa Monica Jail and booked for grand theft auto. Spratley’s bail is set at $30,000 and Sanders’ bail is set at $20,000.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 14, 2002. Read the original PDF.