Suspect arrested in alleged theft of truck loaded with family belongings
The quick actions of police on both sides of the border saved a family from losing thousands of dollars of household property.
Calexico Police arrested 37-year-old Efrein Cardenas who is accused of stealing a truck from a Fresno family who were moving into the area on Estrada Boulevard the same evening of the alleged theft.
Detective Armando Orozco said the family had been over 8 hours on the road and were extremely tired when they got to Calexico.
“They had just parked their vehicle loaded with their household goods, went inside the residence and within thirty minutes their vehicle was stolen,” Orozco said.
Orozco said the loss was over several thousand dollars. He immediately put out an alert to all authorities in the area, including Mexicali Customs.
Mexicali authorities stopped Cardenas as he allegedly tried to cross the loaded truck. They told him he needed to pay taxes on the items. Calexico Police said that Cardenas told the Mexicali Customs he was going to a local ATM to get money to pay for the taxes. He never returned.
Orozco said Mexicali Customs received his alert on the stolen vehicle. They called back and said they had a vehicle that matched the description.
“We described the vehicle, the color of the vehicle, make, model, plate number and that it’s loaded with household goods, because that’s a big descriptive. You have a pickup truck that’s packed, overly packed with items.”
Orozco contacted the family after he had confirmed that it was their truck. He said the family was very happy to retrieve their property.
Cardenas was arrested a few days later when he tried to cross back to Calexico.
“We notified U.S. Customs to put a locate, so that way if he crosses anywhere along the border, he’s going to be stopped, we’re going to be notified, and we go pick him up,” Orozco said.
Orozco said working with Mexicali authorities has paid off on many occasions. The newly arrived Fresno family is proof of that.
Cardenas is charged with possession of stolen property and theft. If convicted, he faces up to six years in prison.
