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Sonoma CA-Two men found sleeping Wednesday morning in a car parked at the Graton Resort & Casino near Rohnert Park were arrested at gunpoint when the car turned out to be stolen, a Sonoma County sheriff’s official said.
Casino security workers called law enforcement at about 8:25 a.m., asking them to check on the men sleeping in a silver Toyota Camry. A check of the vehicle’s plate showed it had been stolen Tuesday from a Rohnert Park location, sheriff’s Lt. Steve Brown said.
Deputies and Rohnert Park police responded and took the men into custody.
Inside the car deputies found several vehicle keys, suspected of being used to steal cars, Brown said.
The two men, believed to be transients from Santa Rosa, were both wanted on different arrest warrants, according to court records.
As well as the warrants, Armando Lopez, 29, and Filemon Vazquez-Montoya, 21, were arrested on suspicion of possessing stolen property and burglary tools – misdemeanor charges.
Who stole the Camry remained under investigation.
Sonoma County has experienced a substantial jump in stolen cars so far in 2015 over 2014. In the last several weeks, several stolen cars have been found parked near the casino in the northwest corner of Rohnert Park, according to law enforcement officials.
The casino parking lot case netted one more person wanted by the law – Rohnert Park resident Dayna Grimwood, 35.
Brown said a woman’s identification was found inside the stolen Camry and casino security went inside to see if she was in the casino. They found a woman they believed matched the identification but it turned out to be someone else – Grimwood – who was wanted on a no-bail arrest warrant. She also was taken to jail, Brown said.
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