Routine Patrol Nets a Stolen Vehicle

SALINAS—The Salinas Police Department arrested 30-year-old Fresno resident Elizabeth Gonzalez after she was found in possession of methamphetamine and riding in a stolen vehicle.

On Tuesday at 3:28 a.m., an officer with the Salinas Police Department located a stolen Dodge Charger while on routine patrol of an East Salinas neighborhood.  The Charger was reported stolen out of Fresno, California.

As the officer was preparing to stop the vehicle, the driver was unaware of the officer behind him. The driver then continued onto Highway 101 and headed south with the officer following.

As the vehicle approached the City of Gonzales, a high-risk stop was initiated and the vehicle was pulled over with the assistance of the California Highway Patrol and the Monterey County Sheriff Department.  Police identified the driver as 26-year-old Christopher Montoya of King City, who was unaware that the vehicle was stolen.  He told police, “I was driving the car from the request of my passenger, Elizabeth Gonzalez.”

Gonzalez confirmed Montoya’s statement and he was cited and released.  Gonzales told police, “I borrowed the car, but I just did not return it.”  Gonzales was then taken into custody.

“When we pulled the driver away from the car he asked us why we stopped him,” Officer Cabrera of the Salinas Police Department said. “He truly was unaware that the car was stolen, he was cited for ‘having no license’ then released.”

A search of Gonzalez revealed that she was in possession of a controlled substance, ‘methamphetamines’.  Gonzales was transported and booked into the Monterey County Jail on charges of being in possession of a stolen vehicle and possession of a controlled substance.

The Salinas Police Department is investigating this incident and is asking anyone with information in this case to call the Salinas Police Department at (831) 775-4222.

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The Californian- Salinas Police: Fresno Woman Arrested for Possessing Unreturned ‘Borrowed’ Car