MADERA COUNTY – Sheriff John Anderson credits a keen-eyed witness for helping the Sheriff’s Office make three arrests — ultimately clearing half a dozen burglaries and even a robbery. All the crimes are believed to be tied to a single truck.
On Dec. 26, Jessica Loreene Cuteri, 24, and Aurora Lopez, 26, were apprehended following a residential break-in. A witness was able to describe the suspects, and provide a detailed description of the make and color of their truck.
Madera County sheriff’s deputies tracked down the truck to a home on Western Way in Madera, where the two women were taken into custody, and where deputies found property from six different burglaries.
Then, on Jan. 4, a vendor was robbed on Road 28. The robber reportedly handed the victim a counterfeit bill, grabbed a bag of chips, punched the victim and then grabbed $50 from the vendor’s cart, according the Madera County Sheriff’s Office.
Witnesses described seeing a man, later identified as Arturo Chavez Torres, 27, of Madera, fleeing the scene after robbing the vendor, in the same truck used by Cuteri and Lopez in the residential robbery. Torres was arrested on Jan. 10, found to be wanted on a misdemeanor warrant out of Merced, and booked into jail where he remains, with bail set at $50,000.
Torres admits being at the scene of the robbery on Road 28, but says he never touched the victim, according to the Sheriff’s Office. He claims he was in the area visiting one of the women in jail.
Aurora Lopez remains behind bars booked on six counts of burglary and probation violation.
Meanwhile, Jessica Cuteri is currently out of custody, according to jail records. However, she and Lopez are expected to appear in court on Monday, Jan. 14.
