Cruise Night Organizer : Lt. Stephen Perea

Behind the badge of Lieutenant Stephen Perea, you’ll find a lifelong cruising and car enthusiast.

Perea cut his teeth as a teenager cruising his hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico in a totally tricked out 1981 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am.

“The spot in town everyone gathered at was called Los Altos Park and it was the place to be,” Perea told CVN. “For us, cruising was a social thing to listen to music and hang out with your friends.”

These days, Perea’s cruise car of choice is a bit different than the Pontiac Trans Am, this one is

fitted with red and blue lights and a CHP dispatch computer. That doesn’t mean his classic car passion has faded at all, his personal cruise car is an awesome restored 1963 VW Bug.

CVN is fortunate to have Lt. Perea involved in cruise night by dedicating additional Castro Valley CHP officers on duty to keep the event safe.

“The first cruise night was an overall success for two reasons. The first being the immense amount of people that were out there enjoying the event and also because it was safe and nobody got hurt,” Perea added.