Couple Involved in Two-Hour Chase Charged with Identity Theft

A married couple and another woman arrested after a nearly two-hour televised pursuit last week pleaded not guilty today to identity theft charges linked to a series of mail thefts across south Orange County.

David Brown, 45, his wife, 55-year-old Jessica Roten, and 22-year-old Corey Richardson, all of Anaheim, were each arraigned on a felony count of identity theft by retaining information on 10 or more victims with the intent to defraud.

Brown is also charged with evading while driving recklessly and sentence- enhancing allegations for multiple prior convictions, including car theft, drug possession and burglary, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.

If convicted as charged, Brown faces as much as 12 years and eight months in state prison, and Roten and Richardson would face up to three years.

A pretrial hearing was scheduled for Dec. 31 at the Harbor Justice Center.

The defendants are suspected of stealing mail and possessing the personal identifying information of at least 21 victims, prosecutors said.

Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched about 2:30 p.m. Friday to the 25000 block of Buckboard Lane in the Nellie Gail neighborhood after residents reported seeing two male suspects taking mail from their mailboxes, according to Lt. Jeff Hallock of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

A sheriff’s helicopter spotted the suspects in a silver 2011 Honda Civic that was leaving the area, Hallock said.

The Honda was speeding along Alicia Parkway toward the Santa Ana (5) Freeway but failed to yield when deputies who attempted a traffic stop and the chase was on, according to Hallock.

It headed south into San Clemente before turning around and heading north, Hallock said.

“The suspect vehicle traveled northbound Interstate 5 and on surface streets through the cities of Irvine, Tustin, Santa Ana and Anaheim before getting back onto the freeway,” Hallock said.

At times, the driver was going at the speed limit, but other times the driving was erratic as the driver went on the wrong side of the street and over center medians, sometimes hitting speeds in excess of 80 mph.

The chase finally ended when the Honda stopped near Lakewood Boulevard and Florence Avenue in Downey when the driver and passengers got out of the vehicle and tried to flee on foot.

Roten and Richardson are suspected of throwing stolen items out of the car windows while the pursuit was underway.

City News Service