Santa Clarita deputies on patrol in the early morning hours found two ID theft suspects in a car in the parking lot of a shopping center on Newhall Ranch Road this past week.
The suspects, Maksim Koretskiy, 27, of Chatsworth, and Amber Stringer, of Wilmington, were arrested during an early morning theft operation Friday by the station’s Crime Impact Team (CIT) and Crime Prevention Unit deputies.
“Deputies made contact with an adult male and adult female that were in a vehicle parked near a drug store on Newhall Ranch Road,” according to Sheriff’s Station officials in a recent Facebook post.
“Any time a deputy can see a car out in the odd time of night, deputies will check it out,” said Shirley Miller, who also shared that in recent weeks, deputies have observed cars in parking lots when the surrounding businesses are closed, reported seeing criminal behavior, and the investigations have ultimately led to arrests on charges ranging from narcotics violations to outstanding warrants and more serious crimes, such as identity theft.
“They made contact with a male and his girlfriend was sleeping in the car,” Miller said, noting the Sheriff’s Station report. “(Deputies) ran her name and found out she had a $51,000 arrest warrant for identity theft.”
When deputies searched the car, they discovered syringes, other narcotics paraphernalia and driver’s licenses in the car that didn’t belong to either one of them, according to the report.
“They were arrested for identity theft and unlawful possession of credit cards that didn’t belong to them,” Miller said.
The arrests are part of an ongoing effort by Sheriff’s Station personnel during the late-night and early morning hours, as Santa Clarita “has had its share” of commercial burglaries recently, Miller said.
“They’ve been pretty successful in doing these proactive patrols around businesses during the early morning hours,” she added.
Stringer is being held in lieu of $101,000 bail at the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood. Koretskiy is being held at Men’s Central Jail in lieu of $50,000 bail.
Both are due in court Wednesday for their arraignment, according to Sheriff’s Department records.
