Visalia Police ends statewide car-theft ring, thefts posted on social media, AG says

FRESNO, Calif. ( KSEE/KGPE ) – Three people have been charged on suspicion of several car theft-related crimes involving 13 different thefts or attempted thefts all across California, following an investigation and arrests made by the Visalia Police Department.

Officials say the total value of all the vehicles stolen was over $600,000.

According to the criminal complaint released by the Office of Attorney General Rob Bonta, the suspects involved in several high-performance vehicle thefts were identified as Jesse Venegas, Nathan Olivas, and Christopher Anderson.

Officials say the thefts took place across the state, including El Dorado County, Kings County, San Benito County and Tulare County. According to court documents, the defendants not only used social media to publicize their exploits but also as a resource to sell the stolen cars.

Court documents state that the defendants were contacted by police and nearly caught in several instances. It was in March 2024 when Visalia Police arrested Olivas and Venegas, finding an “XTOOL” key-programming device, a Dodge vehicle manual, and a license plate with the word “guttahmob” on it.

After Venegas and Olivas were released, law enforcement later recovered a stolen Dodge Charger several feet away from where Olivas and Venegas had been detained. Court documents show that Venegas allegedly messaged in a group chat “[laughing emojis] they was 10 feet away from the scat.”

The three defendants currently stand accused of 26 counts including conspiracy, vehicle theft, possession of stolen vehicle, vandalism, receipt of stolen property and operating a chop shop.

Charges were filed by the California Department of Justice’s Special Prosecutions Section, following an investigation and arrests conducted by the Visalia Police Department.

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