FREMONT– A man was arrested for allegedly stealing a delivery truck parked at the Fremont Hub shopping center last week—left unattended for a few minutes with the engine running.
Police, insurance companies and risk management experts alike say leaving keys inside any vehicle with the engine running is an invitation for someone to steal it—but apparently two FedEx workers never thought it would happen to them. But it did.
The FedEx workers were preoccupied inside a business at the shopping center located on Argonaut Way, when they heard an engine revving outside shortly before 11 a.m. on November 3.
They returned outside in time to see someone navigating the FedEx truck through the parking lot and then driving it away. Unfortunately, one of the FedEx workers had taken a GPS tracker with him while the truck was left unattended.
The whereabouts of the FedEx truck and its packages remained a mystery for about 40 minutes, until a resident at an apartment complex near the shopping center noticed it parked unoccupied with the engine still running.
Another half hour passed before police received a report of a suspicious person from another nearby resident, who said a man had knocked on her door, and requested to use her phone, but she called the police instead.
Responding officers located and detained a 29-year-old Fremont resident Victor M. Flores, who was arrested and booked at Santa Rita Jail, accused of vehicle theft, multiple firearms charges, possession of marijuana for sale, violation of probation, and resisting or obstructing a police officer. Bail for his release was set at $35,000.
