5 Oakland suspects busted with van full of boosted Red Bull

Police in Vacaville arrested Jafar Neal on suspicion of burglary, possession of stolen property and conspiracy Police in Vacaville arrested Jafar Neal on suspicion of burglary, possession of stolen property and conspiracy Photo: Vacaville Police Department / / Photo: Vacaville Police Department / / Image 1 of / 9 Caption Close 5 Oakland suspects busted with van full of boosted Red Bull 1 / 9 Back to Gallery

Four Oakland men and a teenager were busted over the weekend on suspicion of plundering thousands of dollars’ worth of Red Bull from Bay Area stores.

The bizarre heist was foiled Saturday after someone spotted the crew wheeling a cart filled with the energy drink out of a grocery store in Vacaville, police said.

The crooks then piled the caffeine-charged cans into a rented U-Haul van and blew through a stop sign and red light while speeding out of the store’s parking lot, police said.

A short while later, a Vacaville officer spotted the rig heading west on Interstate 80. When officers searched the van, they discovered an estimated $4,700 worth of Red Bull they believe was pilfered from stores around the Bay Area.

“Red Bull gives you wings, or in this case, a pair of shiny bracelets and some time in jail,” a Vacaville police official wrote on the department’s Facebook page.

Four of the suspects — Ronnie Yarbrough, 30, Torn Saelee, 19, Jabari Neal, 29, and Jafar Neal, 29, all of Oakland — were booked into Solano County Jail on suspicion of burglary, possession of stolen property and conspiracy.

A fifth suspect was booked into juvenile hall. No information was released about that suspect.

It was not immediately clear why the alleged robbers may have been specifically stealing Red Bull, or what they planned to do with it.

Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: EvanSernoffsky