Persistent Car Thieves Held, Police Say
They really wanted that car.
The two thieves apparently wanted a 1979 Oldsmobile Cutlass so badly that they didn’t give up when the car wouldn’t start. They began pushing it down the street early Friday and got about two blocks before Oxnard police--alerted by neighbors--arrived on the scene.
Police arrested two Oxnard men--Efrain Leon Escutia, 20, and Lorenzo Edward Garcia, 19--and booked them into Ventura County Jail on suspicion of car theft, a jail spokesman said.
Police say the two tried to hot-wire the car about 1 a.m. Friday but couldn’t get the car started, so they began pushing it down the 3100 block of Mendocino Place.
Some residents on Nevada Place called police to report the incident, said Oxnard Police Sgt. Tom Chronister.
When Officer Brian Bishop and Sgt. Scott Whitney showed up, two men ran and climbed onto the roof of a nearby home, according to police reports.
Officers found Escutia and Garcia nearby and arrested them.
The bail for each is set at $10,000.
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