Transient Accused Of Stealing Hearse, Booked For Grand Theft Auto

SONOMA COUNTY, CA — A transient is accused of stealing a hearse Saturday as funeral workers delivered a casket for a service at a Santa Rosa church, police said.

The incident began at 2:10 p.m. when staff from the Windsor Healdsburg Mortuary, 9074 Brooks Road, called authorities to report the missing hearse, Santa Rosa police Sgt. Terry White said.

The workers told police they took the casket inside a Catholic church in the 300 block of 10th St. in Santa Rosa, but when they came back outside the hearse was gone.

Officers began looking for the stolen vehicle, described as a black Cadillac hearse, White said.

Around 3 p.m., officers found the hearse nearly three miles north of the church at a motel in the 3100 block of Cleveland Avenue in Santa Rosa, police said.

The hearse thief was stopped as he tried to drive out of the parking lot, White said.

"The driver in possession of the hearse was identified as Alberto Torres-Morales, a 23-year-old Santa Rosa transient," White said.

Torres-Morales was booked into Sonoma County jail on suspicion of auto theft, grant theft and violation of probation, according to Santa Rosa police.