http://www.beloblog.com/Pe_Blogs/#a184388Two men and two boys were in custody today on suspicion of stealing a box containing 123 marked ballots at a polling station in Thermal.
Rafael Murua, 19, of Mecca, and Benjamin Pimental, 19, of North Shore, were taken to the Indio Jail and booked on suspicion of grand theft, according to sheriff’s Investigator Jerry Franchville.
The boys were taken to Indio Juvenile Hall.
The four are suspected of taking the ballot box about 90 minutes after the polling station at the Jerry Rummonds Memorial Youth Center closed, Franchville said.
An election worker was placing the ballot box in her car outside the center in the 87000 block of Church Street when a man got out of a white Ford Thunderbird and grabbed the box, along with other items in her car, including her purse, Franchville said.
Sheriff’s deputies circulated information on the suspect’s vehicle to other law enforcement agencies, and about 30 minutes later, a Border Patrol agent spotted the car at Avenue 62 and Gene Wilmas Road in Mecca, Franchville said.
Investigators subsequently recovered the stolen property from an apartment, he said.
—From news services
Posted by PE.com at 11:45 AM, February 06