Three Los Angeles area men were arrested by Ventura County Sheriff’s Office deputies after they attempted to purchase a sports car with a stolen identity and fraudulent line of credit, officials said.
On Tuesday, deputies responded to a car dealership on the 3600 block of Thousand Oaks Boulevard in Thousand Oaks after the business informed them a man was attempting to purchase a $68,000 Chevrolet Corvette under an identity they suspected was stolen.
The suspect, 48-year-old Raymondo Cox of Woodland Hills, had been in contact with the dealership only through email and was attempting to obtain financing for the car. He provided a fraudulent ID and social security number belonging to another person, the Sheriff’s Office said.
Cox had made an appointment to pick up the vehicle around 10:45 a.m. that day, but was instead arrested by deputies after signing paperwork under the stolen identity. He was taken into custody before the sale was completed.
At the time of his arrest, Cox was with two other men, identified as 32-year-old Ricky Perez of Winnetka, and 41-year-old Vincent Venerable of Lancaster, who were also taken into custody.
Sheriff’s officials said Perez and Venerable were also in possession of “fictitious forms of identity” and were allegedly working with Cox to steal the Corvette from the dealership.
The three men were transported to the Ventura County Jail where they were being held on $200,000 bail.
All three men face potential charges for attempted grand theft auto and conspiracy to commit a crime. Venerable and Cox face additional charges for forgery, and Cox could be charged with more crimes related to identity theft.