Would-Be Getaway Leads to Arrest

It’s not every day that a suspected car thief catches a ride with the victim of the heist, but police said that is what happened this week when a Chevy Blazer was stolen from an Oxnard parking lot.

Traffic officers from the Oxnard Police Department said the incident began Tuesday afternoon when Manuel Martinez witnessed his car being stolen from the parking lot where he works at Rose Avenue and 5th Street.

Martinez borrowed a vehicle and chased after his car. When the Blazer stopped for a red light on Rose Avenue, Martinez pulled up next to his SUV and yelled at the driver of the car, identified by police as 28-year-old Carlos Lopez of Oxnard.

The stolen car sped off through the red light and was broadsided by another car. After the Blazer flipped and rolled into two stopped cars, Lopez jumped out and began to run away, police said.

That was when Martinez pulled up to Lopez and told him to get into his car, police said. Apparently forgetting who Martinez was, Lopez hopped in and offered to pay Martinez for helping him flee the scene, police said.

Instead, Martinez drove back to his workplace and kept Lopez in the locked car until police arrived.

Lopez was arrested on suspicion of grand theft auto and felony hit-and-run.

Police said the driver of the car that hit the Blazer suffered minor injuries.