On 12/5/25 at about 0943 hours, St. Paul Police took a report of a stolen vehicle. The vehicle’s owner, BJ, said that overnight someone stole his 1996 Chevrolet GMT-400 pickup truck (MN/GDT233) that had been parked in front of [ADDRESS REDACTED] in St Paul, Ramsey County. On 12/16/25 at 1633 hours a Ramsey County CSO spotted the stolen pickup driving near 7th Street and Kittson St in St. Paul, Ramsey County. The truck pulled into the Holiday Gas station and stopped. Responding St. Paul squads blocked the truck in and detained the driver; who was later identified as Benjamin Joseph MECHACA ([DOB REDACTED]). Ramsey County Deputies arrived on scene and took MENCHACA into custody.
Deputies noted that the truck’s bumper and front license plate were missing, there were no keys in the truck’s ignition, and the ignition had been visibly “punched” and covered with a cloth. Auto thieves commonly punch a vehicle’s ignition in order to defeat its locking mechanism and will cover the damaged ignition in order to hide the damage. MENCHACA declined to be interviewed.
