Preliminary Hearing for Stolen Vehicle Charges
by Kelsey Landon
The preliminary hearing for Anthony Rodrigo Perez took place Monday afternoon in Department 9 of the Yolo County Courthouse.
Perez is facing charges that include motor vehicle theft.
Deputy District Attorney Carolyn Palumbo called on Sergeant Eric Labbe as her first witness to testify in the preliminary hearing.
Eric Labbe is a police officer with the city of Davis. On December 8, 2017, at 1:30 a.m. Labbe provided additional cover for other law enforcement responding to a vehicle reported to be swerving.
According to Labbe, the vehicle had a Mercedes paper plate and dispatch had reported the vehicle stolen out of Vallejo.
Labbe was then dismissed. The next witness to testify was Lyssa Gomez.
Lyssa Gomez is a police officer with the Davis Police Department and has worked as an officer for ten years now.
Gomez had been driving a marked patrol vehicle when she noticed a vehicle going eastbound on Highway 80 that was swerving.
The driver was male, according to Gomez, and she identified him as defendant Perez.
According to Gomez, upon contact Mr. Perez identified himself as Kevin Dill but did not have a driver’s license with him.
Gomez noticed the paper plate covering the license plate.
Gomez searched the vehicle, which was an Acura, and said she found men’s clothing and shoes. The defendant claimed they were not his and the whole situation was weird.
In the cross-examination, the deputy public defender representing Perez asked Gomez if he had ever claimed those objects were his, and Gomez replied he had not.
The other passenger in the car, however, provided conflicting statements.
The third witness called to testify at Monday’s preliminary hearing was Nicholas Peel.
Nicholas Peel is a Davis Police Department officer who assisted Gomez with the stop of the vehicle.
Peel contacted the registered owner of the vehicle, who claimed the car had been stolen.
According to Peel, the other passenger in the car indicated that Perez was concerned he was going to be arrested upon being pulled over.
The arraignment for this case will be held on March 27 in Department 9 at 10 am.
A Second Preliminary Hearing Held in Stolen Vehicle Charges
By: Kelsey Landon
The preliminary hearing for a defendant facing a charge of vehicle theft was held Monday afternoon at Yolo County Superior Court.
Deputy District Attorney Carolyn Palumbo, representing the People, called her first witness to testify.
Yolo County Deputy Sheriff Myles Torres was first to testify.
On January 4, 2018, at about 11:15 p.m. on County Road 105, Torres found a 2006 BMW pulled over on the side of the road with its dome light on.
Torres saw two occupants in the vehicle, but only made contact with the female occupant.
The male was later identified as the defendant.
The defendant told Torres that he had test driven the vehicle and had gotten lost. The defendant claimed he had attempted to return the car but the place he got it from had closed.
The defendant could not remember if there were any test drive instructions. According to Torres, the vehicle owner owned a small dealership where they stop test driving cars at 9 pm.
In the cross-examination by a deputy public defender, Torres said that he had spoken on the scene with the owner of the vehicle. After getting their vehicle back, the owners did not indicate that any excessive damage to the car had occurred.
Torres was then excused, followed by John Ney’s testimony.
John Ney is an investigator with the Yolo County Sheriff’s Office.
According to Ney, the owners of the car indicated that test drives usually take 10-30 minutes.
Only two people work for the dealership the car was taken from, and, according to Ney, they had attempted to contact the defendant and waited all night for the car to be returned.
After the car did not come back, they contacted the Sacramento Police Department.
There had been no collateral provided in case there was any damage to the car.
The arraignment for this case will be held on March 27, 2018, in Department 9 at 10 am.
