Police arrested a Laguna Beach woman for suspicion of vehicle theft on Thursday who had allegedly swiped a key fob from an unguarded valet station after exiting a restaurant where she dined.
Allison Susan Goode, 31, was booked for auto theft and possession of stolen property, both felonies, about 1 a.m. Thursday, two hours after allegedly driving off with a car left by another late-night diner.
Police, who were called to Laguna Beach’s Mozambique restaurant at 11 p.m. on Wednesday, reviewed security footage showing a
woman that exited the restaurant steal a set of keys from the valet stand, Capt. Jason Kravetz said.
She located the car with the key fob and drove away. The theft was noticed about 30 minutes later when the owner of the car was ready to leave, he said.
Officers learned the woman had dined with two men, one of whom paid by credit card. Police contacted the card bearer, also a Laguna resident, who provided the woman’s identity. Police, who tracked down an acquaintance of hers in South Laguna, found the stolen vehicle parked in a neighboring driveway on Mar Vista Drive. The female suspect was inside the home, along with the stolen car keys in her purse, Kravetz said.
The leads were put together through interviews the officers did with witnesses and computer checks completed by dispatchers, said Kravetz, describing “good police work” by the department’s staff.
