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Truckee Police arrest 5 people in vehicle burglary, theft cases (updated)

Liz Kellar
lkellar@theunion.com
Brittany Marie Nash
Courtesy Nevada County Jail |

Correction

An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported the bail amounts for three of the suspects. The correct amounts are now reflected in the story. The Sun regrets the error.

TRUCKEE, Calif. — Truckee authorities over the weekend arrested five people on suspicion of multiple charges related to recent vehicle burglaries and auto thefts.

On Friday, Truckee Police Department officers were notified of suspicious subjects possibly entering unlocked vehicles in the Prosser Lakeview subdivision, according to a statement from the department.

Officers started responding and were updated that an involved vehicle was an FJ Landcruiser; officers later learned this was an unreported stolen vehicle that the suspects had taken. Officers saw the vehicle as they were responding, but it fled the area at high speed.



Officers arrived in the Prosser area to find a witness detaining a suspect, Lourene Mae Walter, 20, of Truckee. Officers arrested her on suspicion of felony theft, being under the influence of a controlled substance, and conspiracy to commit crimes. She was booked and released on $12,500 bail.

Officers also found Jonathan Stephen Nash, 20, of Truckee and arrested him on charges of felony theft, possession of narcotics paraphernalia, and conspiracy to commit a crime. He was being held as of Monday at Wayne Brown Correctional Facility in lieu of $11,000 bail.



As officers continued to investigate, they determined there were at least six associated thefts, including a stolen vehicle, with possibly more unreported thefts.

One theft included a construction site in the Tahoe Donner subdivision where several construction tools were stolen. These were later recovered in another vehicle in the Prosser area.

Officers also determined there were three more suspects involved. An officer spotted one of the suspects, Brittany Marie Nash (Jonathan’s sister), 29, near Highway 267 and Interstate 80; she reportedly had a fixed blade knife concealed on her.

Brittany Nash listed her address as Truckee, although she previously resided in Grass Valley. She was booked into county jail on suspicion of grand theft, criminal conspiracy and carrying a concealed knife, and was being held in lieu of $10,000 bail.

Brittany Nash’s most recent criminal case, according to court records, stems from a March arrest on drug and false impersonation charges in Grass Valley. She took a plea agreement in September in return for 84 days in jail, with credit for time served, and three years probation.

Later on Friday, Kelsey Lynne Ewing, 23, of Grass Valley, was taken into custody on suspicion of felony theft and conspiracy to commit crimes. She was being held in county jail in lieu of $10,000 bail.

Ewing was just recently released for auto theft in another Truckee case dating from Oct. 19.

Ewing has four open criminal cases from Western Nevada County as well. She was arrested in April by the California Highway Patrol on charges that include possession of drug paraphernalia and marijuana, as well as driving without a license.

She was arrested in Grass Valley in May on drug charges; she was arrested on Sept. 13 in Grass Valley on suspicion of petty theft and again on Sept. 30 on suspicion of misdemeanor commercial burglary.

On Sunday, the final suspect, Ronald Joseph Cochran, 54, of Kings Beach, was taken into custody. He was booked on charges of felony theft and conspiracy to commit crimes, and released on $10,000 bail. The stolen FJ Landcruiser was also recovered in Truckee.

Officers are continuing to follow-up on other possible crimes associated with this group. Officers are particularly interested in finding a victim that might have had a black fixed blade knife stolen from them.

Anyone with information should contact TPD Sgt. Robert Womack at 530-550-2335 or rwomack@townoftruckee.com.

Alan Riquelmy is a city editor for The Union newspaper, a sister paper of the Sierra Sun that serves Nevada City, Grass Valley and other communities in the Sierra Foothills. Sun Editor Kevin MacMillan contributed to this report.


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