Cop with a wedding date nabs BART suspect

Frederick Kotto, a San Jose police officer who arrested a suspected cell-phone thief while off-duty and on his way to pick up his marriage certificate Feb. 11, 2013. Frederick Kotto, a San Jose police officer who arrested a suspected cell-phone thief while off-duty and on his way to pick up his marriage certificate Feb. 11, 2013. Photo: San Jose Police Photo: San Jose Police Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Cop with a wedding date nabs BART suspect 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

(02-22) 23:08 PST OAKLAND -- An off-duty San Jose police sergeant on his way to getting his marriage certificate arrested a robbery suspect aboard a BART train in Oakland, authorities said Friday.

Sgt. Frederick Kotto and his fiancee Stanka Vuckovic were aboard a train heading from Dublin to San Francisco about 10:25 a.m. Feb. 11 when they heard a loud commotion behind them as the train entered Oakland.

Kotto, an internal affairs officer and the son of actor Yaphet Kotto, turned around and saw several people tussling. Moments earlier, passenger Josephine Sevilla, 48, was using her iPhone when the suspect grabbed it from her hand, authorities said.

Sevilla - who was hit in the head in the process - yelled, "Stop him, please!"

Other passengers were screaming, "Hit the alarm" and "Call the police."

Kotto, 47, saw the suspect - actually a woman with her head shaved - standing on a top of a seat and pushing passengers trying to prevent her from escaping with Sevilla's cell phone, police said. A passenger tried using a stun gun on the woman, later identified as Jennifer Davis, 32, of Oakland, but was unsuccessful.

Fearing that Davis might get away, Kotto, a boxer, mixed martial artist and former running back at the University of Washington, blocked her path and raised his shirt to display his San Jose police badge and off-duty weapon and ordered her to the floor, police said.

The train stopped at the West Oakland station, where BART officers arrested Davis. Alameda County prosecutors have charged Davis with second-degree robbery. She has past convictions for evading police and drug possession, records show.

Kotto, meanwhile, mindful that his pre-paid marriage certificate appointment was fast approaching, asked the BART officers if it was OK to contact them later. The sergeant and Vuckovic made it to San Francisco with four minutes to spare.

Kotto said his bride-to-be didn't want him get involved in the incident.

"Although I don't necessarily want to do things when I'm not on duty, if I see something and there's no alternative, she knows I'm going to do something," the 18-year veteran officer told reporters Friday.

He said this would probably be his last arrest, because he may be retiring soon as a result of many injuries incurred while on the job. "It's kind of a nice way to go out," he said.

The couple's nuptials are in March.