Nothing Better To Do?

Ernest, Tracy and Angelina found themselves sitting around yesterday with nothing more than a stolen handgun, some meth pipes, a stack of stolen or forged state disability checks, and some other questionable paperwork with which to entertain themselves. What to do, they asked themselves. Then they came up with the plan: Put all of that felonious stuff into a stolen Honda and go race it around the roundabout at I-10 and Apache Trail in Cabazon. What could go wrong?

Press Release: Stolen Vehicle, Stolen Firearm, Felon with a Firearm
Agency: Cabazon Station
Incident Date: January 26, 2012 Time: 10:31 PM
Incident Location: Morongo Travel Center, 49020 Seminole Dr., Cabazon

Details:

On Thursday, January 26, 2012, at about 10:31 P.M., a deputy from the Cabazon Station was on routine patrol in a vehicle equipped with the Automated License Plate Reader, (ALPR), when he observed a Honda traveling at a high rate of speed through the roundabout intersection of Apache Trail and the I-10. The vehicle stopped near a gas pump of the Morongo Travel Center, located at 49020 Seminole Dr., Cabazon. The deputy's ALPR notified him that the vehicle had been reported stolen out of Redlands. A high risk traffic stop was conducted and three subjects were detained.

A search of the vehicle was conducted with the assistance of the Cabazon Station K9 Team. The search revealed a Springfield XD .45 caliber handgun that had been reported stolen by Los Angeles Sheriff's Department Industry Station, three glass methamphetamine pipes, a significant amount of state disability checks which appeared stolen or forged, and miscellaneous identifying paperwork for subjects not in the vehicle. Investigators from the Cabazon Station will be conducting additional investigation regarding the checks and paperwork.

Ernest Hernandez (44 years old from Colton), Tracy Carr (40 years old from Colton), and Angelina Acosta (27 years old from Rialto), were arrested and charged with 10851 CVC, Vehicle Theft, 496 PC, Possession of Stolen Property, and 12031 PC, Felon with a Firearm. Acosta also had both felony burglary and misdemeanor burglary warrants for her arrest. All three subjects were booked at the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility.

The Automatic License Plate Readers were purchased and provided through a gaming mitigation grant funded by the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, in support of the Sheriff's Department's efforts to prevent and deter crime in the local communities. This is just one example of the effectiveness of their support and partnership in these efforts.