OCEAN CITY — Two Washington, D.C. area residents were arrested in Ocean City last Saturday morning after allegedly stealing a car in Montgomery County with a 9-year-old boy inside and driving to the resort where they were picked up after a high-risk traffic stop on Coastal Highway.
Around 9 a.m. last Saturday, Ocean City Police received a broadcast regarding a reported stolen vehicle crossing the Route 90 Bridge. The black Honda had been reportedly stolen in Hyattsville, Md. A check with the Hyattsville Police Department revealed the vehicle had been stolen when the owner forgot her glasses and left the vehicle running in the driveway to go inside and find them.
The owner left her nine-year-old son in the vehicle when she went inside to retrieve her glasses and a Hispanic male holding a beer bottle jumped into the vehicle and drove away. The vehicle owner reported hearing her son screaming as she came outside after retrieving her glasses. The Hyattsville Police explained the nine-year-old boy was able to exit the vehicle shortly after it was stolen.
Meanwhile, back in Ocean City, an OCPD officer was traveling south on Coastal Highway when he received the broadcast about the stolen vehicle and observed a black Honda waiting at the light at the foot of the Route 90 bridge. The officer made a U-turn and picked up the stolen Honda on northbound Coastal Highway at around 70th Street. The officer broadcast the situation and was joined by other OCPD patrol vehicles, which stopped the Honda around 84th Street.
The multiple OCPD units performed a high-risk traffic stop and got the driver, identified a Erika Velasquez, 27, of Mount Rainier, Md., to get out and walk backwards toward them until they could handcuff her. They attempted to get the passenger, identified as Alex Quinteros, 21, of Hyattsville, to come out, but Velasquez advised them he was highly intoxicated and would not wake up. The OCPD officers were eventually able to handcuff Quinteros and requested OC EMS respond to evaluate his condition. Quinteros was ultimately transported to AGH.
Velasquez told police Quinteros had met with her with the Honda at her residence in the D.C. area and they proceeded to drive to Ocean City. Velasquez told police Quinteros was driving and continued to drink and she took over the driving because he had become intoxicated.
While at AGH, Quinteros told police he had a large sum of cash in the vehicle and asked if it would be returned to him. The officers told Quinteros if the cash was his, it would be returned to him when he was released. He was later released from the hospital and returned to Ocean City for processing.
Meanwhile, OCPD officers contacted the stolen vehicle’s owner and advised her it had been recovered. The owner was able to provide a description of the suspect who car-jacked the vehicle from her driveway that was consistent with that of Quinteros. The OCPD officers asked the victim if she had a large sum of cash in the vehicle and she told police he had $2,600 in her purse in the trunk that she had just withdrawn to pay her rent. It was later determined Quinteros had $1,100 in $100 bills and a total of $1,239 on his person when he was taken into custody. What was left of the money was seized and returned to the victim.
Quinteros was charged with theft from $10,000 to under $100,000, theft under $10,000 and unlawful taking of a motor vehicle. Velasquez was charged with unlawful removal of property and theft from $10,000 to under $100,000.
