Woman Accused Of Stealing From Wildfire Evacuees Arrested Again
PETALUMA (CBS SF) – A Petaluma woman who was arrested Monday on suspicion of stealing items from North Bay fire victims and then later released, was arrested again Wednesday after police identified additional victims.
On Monday a mail theft victim reported fraudulent charges to her bank account. She also informed police of a canceled check made out to the Mary Isaak Center, police said.
Based on the canceled check, police identified 31-year-old Katie Lehnhard as a possible suspect. Officers contacted Lehnhard and learned she had an arrest warrant and was on active probation.
A probation search recovered personal identifications, credit cards and checkbooks belonging to the victim, other Petaluma residents and fire evacuees from Santa Rosa who were staying in Petaluma evacuation centers, police said.
Police said they believe the stolen property was related to thefts from vehicles that had been left behind in burned-out neighborhoods.
Lehnhard was arrested on suspicion of mail theft, forgery and fraud and was booked into the Sonoma County Jail.
Following her arrest and subsequent release from jail, police continued to investigate and identified two more victims in Santa Rosa and three in Petaluma.
On Wednesday, police located Lehnhard in Petaluma and arrested her again on suspicion of misappropriation of property, credit card theft and burglary. She was booked into the Sonoma County Jail and is being held on $100,000 bail.
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