Jailed Man Suspected in Robbery, Carjack

A Bakersfield man wanted by authorities in two counties in connection with strong-arm robbery and carjacking is being held in Ventura County Jail on $120,00 bail after the car he was riding in was pulled over on a speeding violation, authorities said Wednesday.

Antonio Martin Garcia, 23, was booked at 6:30 p.m. Monday after California Highway Patrol Officer James Cook pulled over a Honda Accord on the southbound Ventura Freeway at the East Main Street exit in Ventura, according to CHP spokesman Dave Cockrill.

Cockrill said neither Garcia nor the two other people in the car, including a 17-year-old boy from Las Vegas, could produce the car’s pink slip.

One of the occupants, another 23-year-old Bakersfield man, was let go.

Garcia was booked into County Jail on suspicion of possession of a stolen vehicle and possession of more than an ounce of marijuana, authorities said.

The teenager, whose name was not released because he is a minor, was booked into Juvenile Hall on suspicion of possession of a stolen vehicle.

On Tuesday, CHP officials were contacted by detectives in Huntington Beach and San Luis Obispo, who wanted to question the suspects about cases in their jurisdictions.

Detectives from the Huntington Beach Police Department in Orange County say the pair are responsible for the strong-arm robbery of an elderly woman on Sept. 24 that resulted in her leg being broken, Cockrill said.

San Luis Obispo Police Department detectives have tied Garcia and the teenager to a carjacking in that county on Sept. 22.

In that case, the suspects brandished a knife at a 57-year-old woman and forced her into the trunk of her car, authorities said. They drove about 20 miles north to Atascadero with the woman still in the trunk.

She was able to eventually escape and contacted authorities.

Cockrill said the pair allegedly used the woman’s stolen credit cards to make several purchases and were identified through surveillance tapes.

On Wednesday, Garcia was being held on the additional charges of carjacking and kidnapping, authorities said.