2 Colombian nationals arrested in stolen Mercedes linked to violent California carjacking

Two Colombian nationals were arrested in California after automated license plate readers alerted authorities to a stolen Mercedes-Benz linked to a violent carjacking days earlier, officials said.

The 2015 Mercedes-Benz C300 had been reported stolen during a violent carjacking and assault with a deadly weapon in Hawthorne, California, on July 11, according to a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department news release.

Days later, deputies received an alert from an automated license plate reader showing that the car was traveling through Rolling Hills Estates. As deputies searched for the vehicle, they learned it had also been linked to a residential burglary that had recently occurred in Torrance, authorities said.

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Deputies found the Mercedes and conducted a traffic stop near Palos Verdes Drive North and Rolling Vista Drive.

As the vehicle came to a stop, a passenger jumped out and ran, prompting deputies to establish a perimeter, according to the sheriff’s department.

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The driver, Yareht Pedraza, 26, of Bogotá, Colombia, was taken into custody at the scene.

“With deputies securing the perimeter and an LASD airship overhead, the search quickly shifted from the streets to the skies. Within a short time, the passenger was located and taken into custody,” the sheriff’s department said.

The passenger, Alan Pena Sabogn, 21, also of Bogotá, was later apprehended and arrested on suspicion of failing to obey a lawful order, obstructing a peace officer and providing false identification, authorities said.

Officials said Sabogn also had an outstanding felony no-bail burglary warrant from Colorado.

“This arrest is another example of how technology, proactive policing, and teamwork between deputies, dispatchers, and Air Support help quickly identify suspects and remove them from our communities,” the sheriff’s department said.