The three businesses, Galvan's Market on Macarthur Boulevard, Portofino's Italian Restaurant on Dutton Avenue and Purple Pepper Pizza on Macarthur Boulevard, were all robbed between 1 a.m. and 2:10 a.m. Wednesday, police said.
In each of the burglaries the suspect threw a large stone through the font glass door of the business and took either the cash register or the till.
A witness of the burglary at Galvan's Market provided a license plate number to San Leandro police, who alerted the Alameda County Sheriff's Office and other local police agencies.
The plate was registered to a residence in Dublin, police said.
Sheriff's deputies spotted the suspected car near the corner of Mattox Road and Foothill Boulevard in Castro Valley and followed it in a low speed chase, police said.
The chase ended in the area of Hesperian Boulevard and Lewelling Boulevard in San Leandro, where San Leandro police arrived and arrested the driver.
Police identified the driver as Brian Anderson, 40, of Dublin. Police said broken glass and large stones like the ones used in the burglaries were found in his car.
Anderson was arrested on suspicion of committing similar robberies in 2009, police said.