BRIEFLY IN THE NEWS Two fraud...
BRIEFLY IN
THE NEWS
Two fraud suspects from Costa Mesa
Two of eight suspects arrested on suspicion of participating in a
multi-state automobile theft and insurance fraud ring Wednesday are
from Costa Mesa.
The arrests culminated a four-month-long investigation by the
Orange County Auto Theft Task Force. Investigators staged a “sting”
operation and simultaneously searched five Orange and Los Angeles
county locations, resulting in the arrests and seizure of evidence.
Officers from 12 agencies in both Orange and Los Angeles counties
assisted in the arrests and raids Wednesday. During the searches,
police seized more than $40,000 in cash, believed to be the proceeds
of auto theft-related crimes.
One of the arrest locations was Shooter’s Restaurant in Costa
Mesa, where some of the suspects allegedly tried to pay for stolen
vehicle identification numbers and phony Department of Motor Vehicle
registration documents.
The two suspects from Costa Mesa are Eric Huerta, 28, and Oscar
Sanchez, 32. Huerta’s mother, Margarita, and sister, Jennifer, were
also arrested.
Bomb threat proves empty in Newport
A bomb threat at a Newport Beach business Wednesday morning turned
out to be unfounded, police officials said.
The threat was called in about 11:25 a.m. by a male who said there
was a bomb in Conexant’s headquarters in the 4000 block of MacArthur
Boulevard. Conexant officials evacuated the 10-story building as a
precaution while a few officers investigated the threat.
After about an hour, it was determined to be unfounded and
business resumed as usual, said Newport Beach Police Sgt. Steve
Shulman.
-- Deirdre Newman
All the latest on Orange County from Orange County.
Get our free TimesOC newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Daily Pilot.