Jose Vazquez, 18, and Lori Huerta, 20, were arrested on Sunday night on suspicion of possessing a stolen vehicle that police allege may be connected to an Anaheim drive-by shooting, according to the O.C. Register.
The suspects were inside a Toyota Tundra when Anaheim police officers followed them and stopped their truck at around 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, according to the Anaheim Police Department.
The truck’s occupants matched a description of suspects alleged to be have been involved in a drive-by shooting earlier in the day, just before 2:30 p.m.
The police feel that the truck was definitely the one used in the drive-by shooting but now need to establish that the suspects were in the vehicle at the time of the shooting.
A woman was is alleged to have been driving a Toyota Tundra in the 300 block of North Bush Street, in Anaheim, when one of two male passengers in the truck fired several shots into the neighborhood but failed to hit anyone.
A witness followed the suspects’ truck and wrote down the license plate number of the vehicle, which he turned over, along with a description of the suspects, to the Anaheim police.
Police officers did not find the truck or the suspects when they searched the area. The truck turned out to have been stolen on Nov. 7, in Whittier.
The police caught a lucky break when a non-sworn officer who was driving on Leisure Court spotted the truck at around 7:30 p.m. She then called it in and police officers responded. They followed a male and a female suspect onto the 57 freeway, where the driver exited on Lincoln Avenue.
The police stopped the vehicle near South Sunkist Street, and questioned Vazquez and Huerta. They were later arrested on suspicion of possession of a stolen vehicle.
Anaheim police investigators are considering requesting that the O.C. District Attorney’s Office add charges in connection to the drive-by shooting to the stolen vehicle charges.
The police did not find any guns or ammunition inside the truck during an initial search.
Huerta plead guilty on Dec. 21 to possession of controlled substance paraphernalia and driving on a suspended license, both misdemeanors. She ended up serving 16 days in jail and was released on Dec. 22, according to court and jail records.
Vazquez however does not appear to have had a prior criminal record in Orange County. But he will now!