Live Oak police have arrested five people on charges including fraud and narcotics, following a probe into stolen vehicles identified by a license plate reader.
LIVE OAK, Texas — Live Oak police said when a license plate reader started identifying numerous stolen vehicles in a neighborhood between O’Connor and Toepperwein roads, they started looking into what other kinds of crimes might be going on in the area.
They said they ended up recovering a number of vehicles, and that led to additional clues.
Wednesday evening, they executed a search warrant at a nearby home they believe is connected to the trouble.
By the end of the evening, they made five arrests on a variety of charges.
One neighbor who recorded cell phone video of the incident said, “Something very fishy is kind of going on and it’s in the middle of my neighborhood, so everybody pays attention.”
Another man who was working at his home office said when he noticed the flashing lights of patrol vehicles and looked outside said, “I saw three or four people in handcuffs.”
Live Oak police said there were five arrests by the time they were done, with a long list of larceny, including mail and ID theft, fraud and narcotics charges.
The following individuals were arrested:
- BOND: $7,500 – Octabio Ascencio – Fraudulent Use/Possession of Identifying Information, Less than 5 Items
- BOND: $10,000 – Giovanni Devora – Possession of Controlled Substance Penalty Group 1/1-B, Greater Than 4g Less Than 200g
- BOND: $35,000 – Melanie Reyna – Fraudulent Use/Possession of Identifying Information, 50 or More Items
- BOND: $25,000 – Richard Whitney – Fraudulent Use/Possession of Identifying Information, 50 or More Items
- REMANDED: Britney Herlong – Pasco County, Florida with Full Extradition Warrant for Larceny
As of late Thursday, all remained in the Bexar County jail. Live Oak police said the investigation continues and more arrests are possible.