Alexis "Missy" Garabedian was wanted for three auto theft-related cases when she was arrested Friday morning. And her boyfriend, James Davis was already on parole for residential burglary when he parked the stolen car they were riding in, in the wrong place.
When members of the Help Eliminate Auto Theft Team, or HEAT, got behind the car Friday morning and ran the license plate, they knew it was far newer than a 2001 Honda. That was their first clue.
"At that time, the Fresno HEAT team converged on the vehicle. The driver jumped out of the car and began running in a northbound direction across Van Ness," said Johnny Fisher with the California Highway Patrol.
Davis skinned his knees in the street when he was taken into custody. After that, officers made sure he couldn't get away by chaining him to a truck. Oddly enough, Davis had parked the stolen car in a police only zone.
Investigators say his girlfriend, "Missy" Garabedian, was in the passenger seat. While she was handcuffed she shouted, but never made it to court to answer for another separate court case. Instead, she was taken to jail. CHP officers say she was currently wanted by two agencies for stealing cars.
Action News tracked down the victims, the Kubota family, to tell them their car was found.
"I'm just excited my brother is getting his car back. I mean he'd had the car for two months. The day after it was taken, he sent in his second car payment," said Kailey Kubota.
On Sunday morning, they woke up to find their house cleaned out and their car gone.
"We called the sheriff to report that the car was stolen. When the sheriff got here -- it didn't take them long, they were here pretty quickly for the car -- we told them they had gotten into the house, which is how they got the purse, the wallet, the car keys, and then a computer, and an IPad," said Kubota.
Sheriff's deputies say someone broke into the car and used the garage door opener to get access to the house. The whole family was sleeping inside along with their three dogs, which include a pit bull. None of them barked or made a sound.
Investigators say the items they found inside the car show what the pair has been up to over the past five days. In addition to a drug pipe, they found countless identity theft items including IDs and credit cards. They also found several stolen computers, including ones taken from the house where the car was stolen. The victims say the debit cards were used right after the burglary.
"And we've got the online access, so we could tell where they were and sort of generally when they were there trying it all out. They used each of the cards trying to get gas. They went to McDonald's, I guess got breakfast," said Kubota.
Investigators believe the couple is part of a burglary ring. They have also linked some of the stolen items to cases being worked by the Fresno Police Department.
