The prolific car thief sought in an intensive manhunt for what police say was an unprovoked fatal shooting this week was captured Wednesday morning in central Fresno.

Tino Tufono, 30, of Fresno gave up without a struggle near a home where he was seen by authorities on East Brown Avenue near North Bond Street, police said. Earlier, police said Tufono was considered armed and dangerous and that he reportedly had said he would kill the first officer he encountered.

Tufono, listed this year as among the city's top five car thieves, was released from Fresno County Jail about 10 days ago because of overcrowding.

"Tino Tufono is no stranger to local law enforcement," police Lt. Burke Farrah said Wednesday. "Every cop in this city has been looking for him for the last 24 hours."

About 9:45 a.m., police got a tip that Tufono was walking near Clinton Avenue and Bond Street, Farrah said.

A Fresno County Sheriff's Office helicopter and undercover officers rushed to the area, where police made the arrest and quickly took Tufono to police headquarters, where he would be questioned about the shooting of Jacob Ramirez, 27, Farrah said.

Farrah said the capture went off without a hitch: "There was no fight. There was no opposition. He did not present a firearm or any of the things that he threatened to do. We're glad it ended with a peaceful resolution."

A jail spokesman said Tufono was released Nov. 28 and was scheduled to appear in Fresno County Superior Court on Monday to face charges of auto theft. Police said they do not know whether Tufono kept his court date.

But police believe Tufono is responsible for the shooting death of Ramirez shortly before 2 a.m. Tuesday at a converted garage apartment on Clinton Avenue just north of Fresno City College.

Police Lt. Mark Salazar said Tuesday that Tufono and other people were at the apartment where "drugs were involved." Tufono allegedly shot the victim following a disturbance. Another person was pistol-whipped, Salazar added.

In October, Fresno police ranked Tufono as the city's second-most-prolific auto thief.

Tufono, who served a prison term for a grand theft conviction in 2004, has a lengthy criminal history. In addition to multiple auto theft arrests, he has been taken into custody on charges of possession of a deadly weapon, resisting a peace officer, possession of burglary tools, buying or receiving stolen property and possession of narcotics.