Las Vegas suspects arrested for auto theft in Imperial County
Karina Bazarte
IMPERIAL COUNTY, Calif. (KYMA) – Three Las Vegas men were arrested in Imperial County after the California Highway Patrol (CHP) tried to pull them over for suspicious driving.
CHP says two men in their early 20s were spotted driving at least 130 miles per hour on Highway 111 near Keystone Road last Thursday.
“Our officer turned around as the officer was going North, turned around to catch up to him and lost sight of him because the vehicle was going so fast,” said Capt. Ernesto Ruedas with CHP El Centro.
Officers then spotted a cloud of black smoke and found the car off to the side of the road, with the suspects running away.
“Our sergeants actually located a vehicle in the area that just pick up the suspects to they were all taken into custody and we found various tools of auto theft,” said Capt. Ruedas.
During the investigation, CHP discovered that the vehicle was stolen out of Las Vegas.
“They had key fobs, multiple key fobs from different vehicles. They had a program device in order to program [the] key fobs, so this is what people are using now. Some of our vehicles now have key fobs so they use it to program it and steal vehicles,” said Ruedas.
All three suspects were taken to the Imperial County Jail. Each is facing at least four felony charges, including auto theft and conspiracy to commit auto theft.