Moses Lake man sentenced for vehicle theft

EPHRATA — A Moses Lake man was sentenced after stealing a running car from a driveway in Moses Lake. The man was eventually arrested after the owner of the stolen car spotted the suspect in his vehicle later in the day and detained him until police arrival.

Rafael Ochoa Jr., 18, of Moses Lake, pleaded guilty to motor vehicle theft. Grant County Superior Court Judge John Antosz followed a joint recommendation between Deputy Prosecutor Mark Laiminger and defense attorney Stephen Kozer and sentenced Ochoa to two months in jail.

Ochoa’s sentence stems from an incident on April 13, when the Moses Lake Police Department received a report of a vehicle theft in the 2600 block of West Wall Street. The reporting party said a person she knew as “Junior” Ochoa, later positively identified as Rafael Ochoa, stole her boyfriend’s car.

The vehicle owner reported leaving his car running in his driveway and going inside his Wall Street home. The man returned to discover his car was stolen, according to police records. A neighbor stated she had seen “Junior” take the vehicle. The witness said she keeps watch over the neighborhood and is up at all hours of the night. She said she saw Ochoa walking toward Interstate 90 the night before the vehicle theft and later saw him return, get into the running car and drive it toward Russell Avenue.

While the investigating officer was on Wall Street MACC Dispatch relayed a report of a disturbance in the 400 block of West Fourth Avenue. The officer was told the disturbance appeared to be related to the stolen vehicle from Wall Street. When police arrived at the scene Ochoa and the owner of the stolen car were facing each other, with Ochoa stating he borrowed the car and “the guy was mad and started hitting him.”

“Ochoa told me (a MLPD officer) he needed to borrow the car and he was going to bring it back after picking up some clothes from his mom at Tacos Mi Casa,” wrote an officer. “Ochoa stated he had the keys so he thought he could take the car. I asked Ochoa if he knew the owner of the car and he stated he did. I asked Ochoa if he knew the owner’s name and he stated he didn’t know his name.”

The car owner told officers he dropped his child off at school and started driving back to Wall Street when he spotted his vehicle. He attempted to get Ochoa to pull over, but Ochoa refused. He stated he cut off Ochoa in the 400 block of West Fourth Avenue and pulled him from the driver’s seat.

Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.