What should have been a simple transaction turned into
much more for a mother and her seven-year-old daughter on a Wednesday afternoon
in Mesa. After listing her car for sale on OfferUp, she met with a potential
buyer at Wells Fargo Bank, located near Stapley and McKellips. While speaking
to the buyer about the vehicle and sale price, she came face to face with a
career criminal who pointed a gun at her and demanded she give him the vehicle.
The woman ran with her daughter, trying to escape what
she thought was going to be the end of her life. Her daughter fell in the
parking lot, scraping her knee in the process. Finally, they gained safety in
the Wells Fargo Bank, just as the red 2021 Dodge Charger drove out of the
parking lot with the gunman and potential buyer in the car.
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| Stolen Vehicle |
The woman told Mesa police officers she
had never seen the gunman or buyer before today, but did have the phone number
that was used to inquire about the vehicle. The phone number belonged to
29-year-old Joseph Toledo. Officers obtained a location for the phone and responded
to Banner Deer Valley Hospital, where they found the stolen vehicle unoccupied.
Using police databases, officers
identified several addresses that Joseph Toledo might frequent throughout
Phoenix. While stopping by each one, Toledo was eventually located traveling as
a passenger in a vehicle. The Phoenix Police Department’s air support team
assisted in following Toledo to the Arizona Department of Corrections
Rehabilitation & Reentry, where they finally found Toledo… checking in with
his Parole Officer.
And the potential buyer from earlier?
Officers found her in the driver’s seat of a vehicle parked outside and waiting
for Toledo. She was identified as 23-year-old Iridiane Garcia. Garcia told
officers the keys to the stolen vehicle were in her purse, right along with the
gun Toledo used against the victim.
Both Toledo and Garcia were booked into
jail for multiple felony charges to include Armed Robbery and Theft of Means of
Transportation.
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| Iridiane Garcia |
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| Joseph Toledo |
