Alleged Auto Thief Arrested While Trying to Visit Boyfriend in Jail
FRESNO – A woman was arrested on charges of auto theft on Tuesday when she tried to visit the jail to see her boyfriend, police said.
Members of Fresno’s Help Eliminate Auto Theft task force located a stolen BMW in downtown Fresno on Tuesday. Investigators determined that 41-year-old Cynthia Abate of Clovis had used a false name and credit card to rent the car from a car rental agency, and had no intention of ever returning it.
Officers followed the BMW to a parking area on M Street in front of the Fresno County Jail. They discovered that Abate was going to visit her boyfriend at jail. The boyfriend, who was arrested in May, is serving time for auto and identity theft.
Inside the stolen BMW officers discovered drugs and stolen credit cards. They also found that Abate was in the possession of homemade credit cards stamped with fake names, officials said.
Abate was booked into the Fresno County Jail on charges of auto theft, identity theft and drug possession.
