Authorities are now working to get the suspect back to the Bay Area.
Alexander Diaz will face attempted murder charges while Officer Patrick Brower continues to recover.
Officer Brower is expected to go home from the hospital later this week and now there's an additional sense of relief since his attempted killer is in custody. What helped catch the suspect today was truly a blend of good detective work, plus a savvy citizen watching the media coverage of Monday's mayhem.
Law enforcement took no chances when arresting 36-year-old Alexander Diaz in Los Angeles Wednesday morning.
"I'm sure they walked up with him with guns drawn, but it was a, there was no fleeing. There was no fight," said Fremont police Sgt. Jeff Swadener.
Fremont police detectives have been on the hunt for Diaz since Monday morning when they say he deliberately plowed a stolen delivery van into Brower. When the 43-year-old officer spotted the van on Warm Springs Boulevard -- Diaz saw him too, but chose instead to ram into Brower -- dragging him across two lanes of traffic and pinning him against a light pole.
The officer survived, but with severe leg and foot injuries. Diaz fled, but not without a trace. "Between our investigation up here, knowing that he was out of the L.A. area and L.A.P.D.'s intelligence on him, there were some locations in the L.A. jurisdiction that we felt that he may flee to," said Swadener.
Those locations were being watched closely and a break came at 3:30 Wednesday morning when officers saw Diaz walk into a Los Angeles home he was known to visit.
"They continued to watch the house and at about 5 a.m. this morning he came out of the house. It was confirmed that was him. The officers made contact with him and took him into custody," said Swadener.
Turns out Diaz is already in the law enforcement system -- on parole for a grand theft conviction -- so they already knew he was from Southern California. But Fremont detectives say they were also tipped off by a citizen who was contacted by the suspect.
"After seeing the news media coverage about this, that individual contacted our investigators yesterday, saw a photograph of this individual and said 'that is the man that we helped get a cab,'" said Swadener.
That cab dropped Diaz off at a South Bay bus terminal, where he then headed to L.A and that's where his journey has ended.
Police expect to transport Diaz back to Alameda County today. He's being held in Los Angeles County jail on no-bail. Aside from charges for theft of the van, he will also face attempted murder of an officer.
