HEMET: Plates from stolen vehicle lead to traffic stop, arrests
HEMET — Officials arrested two people who were stopped while driving a vehicle with license plates from a stolen car. The stop and arrests happened Wednesday evening, Feb. 22, in front of Quality Inn on the 1200 block of West Florida Avenue in Hemet.
Officials arrested at least one person after stopping a vehicle with license plates from another stolen vehicle attached to a red Mustang convertible. Robert Carter/Public Safety Incidents photo
City of Hemet police officers were on patrol when they observed a red, 1995 Ford Mustang convertible being driven in the area of Lyon and Florida Avenues.
At about 9:45 p.m., officers conducted a records check on the vehicle’s license plate and learned the plate belonged to a white Ford Mustang that had been reported stolen from neighboring San Jacinto.
Officers requested assistance and additional resources including less-lethal options, and then followed the Mustang for several blocks until additional officers arrived.
With assistance from the department’s Gang Task Force, patrol officers then conducted a high-risk, felony traffic stop.
During the traffic stop, officers detained a man and woman without incident. Neither have been publicly identified yet. During their subsequent investigation officers determined that although the Mustang’s ignition was “punched” and the vehicle had a license plate from another, stolen Mustang – the car the pair was stopped in had not been reported stolen. Officials were still working to determine if the convertible was an unreported stolen vehicle.
During the stop, officials called for the temporary closure of Florida Avenue; however, the road, which is the main east/west thoroughfare into the San Jacinto Valley was reopened minutes later, once the pair were in custody.
According to sources from the scene, officers arrested the male driver for an outstanding warrant. It was not immediately known if the female passenger was arrested.
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Robert Carter/Public Safety Incidents video
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Trevor Montgomery, who recently moved from Riverside County to Shasta County, runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes for Riverside County based newspapers Valley News, The Valley Chronicle and Anza Valley Outlook as well as Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County.
Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident.
During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations, including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center and Lake Elsinore Station, along with other locations.
Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.
Trevor has been married for more than 27 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and has 13 children and 14 grandchildren.