'Roadtrip of fraud' results in pursuit, ends with empty gas tank
FREMONT - Two Florida women are charged with multiple crimes after a fraud incident Tuesday that led to a high-speed chase, terminating when the getaway car ran out of gas.
According to a report by Ryan Reed of the Fremont Police Department, Zona D. Garcia and Marilyn Aosio, both of Miami, were taken into custody west of Woodville after cashing a fraudulent check at the US Bank, 1214 Oak Harbor Road. The two wore wigs and drove a white BMW with stolen Ohio plates while cashing the check in the drive-through lane, the report shows. Reed responded after bankers found the $2,500 check to be fraudulent.
Reed blocked the front of the drive-through, but the pair backed out and raced away, nearly striking a truck owned by Madison Motors as they turned southbound toward State Street, where they then turned westbound, reaching speeds of more than 80 mph, the report shows. Reed's report shows the BMW traveled over State and Brush streets before continuing on Ohio 53, Ohio 590 and U.S. 20, at times reaching more than 100 mph and involving officers and troopers of the Fremont and Woodville Police Departments and the Ohio Highway Patrol.
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Passed a school bus at 85 mph
The vehicle passed a school bus at 85 mph and traveled through Hessville and Woodville before coming to a stop under the U.S. 420 overpass, the report states.
During the chase, Reed reported unknown items, later identified by Aosio as a Norwalk woman's stolen checkbook and crack pipe, were thrown from the vehicle. They were not recovered. Bank officials turned over a Findlay woman's driver's license and credit card, while Woodville police, inventorying the vehicle, however, recovered the stolen license plate of a Toledo man.
According to Reed, Aosio, having waived her Miranda rights, not only identified the checkbook and crack pipe, but said the two were recruited by an unknown man while panhandling in Miami. Over the past five days, she said, the two traveled around cashing fraudulent checks for around $10,000, the report shows.
Garcia is charged with identity fraud, forgery, receiving stolen property and fleeing and eluding. Aosio is charged with complicity to identity fraud, complicity to forgery, receiving stolen property and tampering with evidence.
'There's going to be more to this'
"I guarantee that there's going to be more to this," Fremont Police Chief Derek Wensinger said of what he termed a "roadtrip of fraud."
"I would describe this as an active investigation."
Wensinger expressed satisfaction with the way his department's personnel performed during the incident, saying officers correctly balanced the need to apprehend the suspects with the public's safety. He also lauded law enforcement officers from other departments who assisted.
"I'm proud of our officers who were involved with it," Wensinger said, adding, "Without our law enforcement partners, this resolution wouldn't be as good as it was."
mmagnuson@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: 'Roadtrip of fraud' results in pursuit, ends with empty gas tank
