By Ariana Camarena
Woodland – On October 24, 2019, a preliminary hearing was held to determine if a man accused of auto theft from the West Sacramento Walmart parking lot should be brought to trial.
On Sep. 4, 2019, Joey Brown, while under the influence, allegedly stole a $2,000 red motorized tricycle from an elderly man. The elderly man was shopping at the Walmart only to return to find his tricycle missing. The two witnesses to testify during the preliminary hearing were West Sacramento Police Officers on duty the night of the incident and who identified the stolen tricycle. The People were represented by Deputy District Attorney Ashley Harvey and the defendant was represented by Deputy Public Defender Martha Sequeira.
The first witness to testify was West Sacramento Officer Gee, who received a dispatch call the night of the alleged incident. According to the officer’s testimony, at approximately 8:00 p.m. a man called to report a stolen motorized vehicle. The man stated to the officer that the motorized tricycle belonged to his elderly father and was his father’s only means of transportation. The witness stated that the subject did not give permission to anyone else to use his tricycle and proceeded to give the officer the tricycle serial number. The subject also noted that the motorized tricycle was worth $2,000.00.
The second witness to testify was West Sacramento Officer Nicholas Lewis, who was also on duty the night of the alleged incident. The officer testified to observing the defendant riding a spray-painted blue, motorized tricycle on West Capitol Avenue. The officer testified to stopping the defendant when observing that the bottom axle of the motorized tricycle was red and the subject had blue paint on his inner fingers. The officer testified that he stopped the defendant after being notified of the stolen red motorized tricycle from earlier that day.
The defendant allegedly claimed that he got the bike for $100 from a man named Casper. The officer proceeded to testify that the serial number was identical to that of the reported stolen tricycle.
While under arrest, the officer searched the defendant and found methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.
The People argued that the defendant has a criminal history and was arrested for driving a stolen vehicle and drug paraphernalia in the past.
The court denied the motion to make the charge a misdemeanor, and arraignment is scheduled to take place Friday, November 8, 2019 at 9:00 a.m.
