Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station investigators managed to share a Valentine’s Day surprise with a suspect showing up at court for an unrelated charge involving a stolen vehicle: She was arrested on suspicion of mail theft.
Detectives took Judilee Cordova, 38, into custody as part of their investigation into an incident involving a woman who left her cellphone at the scene of a midday Aug. 13 mail theft in Valencia.
A mail carrier delivered the mail in the 24200 block of Edelweiss Court in Valencia shortly before 12:30 p.m., according to previous reporting in The Signal.
Minutes later, a white Chevrolet Silverado with Arizona plates pulled up, a woman exited the truck and stole the mail, according to a witness account obtained in court records.
However, a neighborhood resident observed the crime and then notified SCV Sheriff’s Station deputies that a female suspect dropped her phone and fled the scene after realizing someone was watching her.
Cordova was booked on suspicion of identity theft at the SCV Sheriff’s Station by Crime Impact Team deputies around 3:42 p.m., according to an email from Natalie Arriaga, spokeswoman for the SCV Sheriff’s Station, and departmental arrest records available online.
She was in court Tuesday to face a charge of receiving a stolen vehicle when she was re-arrested, according to information provided by the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office.
Detectives had previously identified and arrested a second suspect in connection with their investigation, Arriaga wrote.
Joseph Haberlack, 39, was also arrested, although his booking charge was not immediately available.
Haberlack had the same previous legal entanglement as Cordova with respect to the stolen vehicle charge out of San Fernando Valley. He’s also facing charges of robbery and cocaine possession with intent to sell. He was taken into custody Jan. 12.
Cordova is being held in the SCV Sheriff’s Station with no bail amount listed. Haberlack is in custody at the North County Correctional Facility in Castaic in lieu of $550,000 bail.
Neither suspect had a case number for the new allegations at this time, according to the DA’s office.
