Petaluma theft suspects arrested, one with prior convictions subject to Prop 36 charges
Two suspects were arrested following a theft at a Petaluma store Thursday and one faces charges under California's new Prop 36 law which stiffens penalties for repeat offenders, authorities said.
Petaluma police said in a press release Thursday that the theft happened at a business on the unit block of E. Washington Street just after 5 p.m. Officers responded after dispatchers received a call from the business saying two people had stolen a cart full of items and fled.
The officers obtained information from a witness that the suspects fled in a vehicle and the witness was able to provide a license plate number, police said.
During the investigation, the officers were able to determine where the suspects may have fled to and arrived at a home in an attempt to locate the suspects. They were identified as 29-year-old Dylan Beck and 32-year-old Hanna Frederickson, both residents of Petaluma.
Officers contacted both Beck and Frederickson at the home and arrested them. Police said Beck was currently on parole and had at least two prior convictions for theft, while Frederickson was on felony probation. A search of the home yielded the items that were stolen at the business, police said.
Beck faces charges of theft under Prop 36, which can include up to three years in jail or prison if a person has already been convicted twice for the same offense, including petty theft and shoplifting. He's also charged with a parole violation and conspiracy.
Frederickson faces charges of felony violation of probation, theft of less than $950 and conspiracy. Both were booked at the Sonoma County Jail.
Proposition 36, which voters passed overwhelmingly in November, modifies and changes California law to allow felony prosecution of repeat theft and drug offenders and longer sentences in state prisons instead of county jails.
