Thanks to the tip of an alert citizen, Simi Valley police officers arrested a Thousand Oaks man early Thursday morning for grand auto theft.

Police are still looking for another man who may be connected with the crime.

On Oct. 1 at 1:38 in the morning, a resident called the police department to report suspicious activity in the 2200 block of Birch Glen Street. The caller reported seeing two males loitering in the area and that they were last seen in a dark-colored SUV.

Upon arriving on scene, officers observed a dark blue Escalade that matched the description provided by the caller. When an officer attempted to stop the vehicle by activating his red lights, the driver jumped out of the moving vehicle and attempted to elude the police on foot. The officer chased down and apprehended the suspect, identified as 36-year-old Shawn Sterhardt from Thousand Oaks.

Further investigation at the scene revealed that the vehicle he was driving had been reported as stolen to the Los Angeles Police Department on Sept. 26. Sterhardt was later booked into the county jail for auto theft and violation of his parole.

Police identified the second suspect the citizen caller described as Shane Nimitz, who is also currently on active parole.

Officers conducted an extensive search of the surrounding neighborhood for Nimitz but were unable to locate him.

An airship from the LAPD and two additional patrol units from the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department assisted Simi officers on the ground.

The investigation is ongoing. The department encourages anyone seeing suspicious subjects or activity in their neighborhood to immediately call the police.

—Carissa Marsh