A car burglary Tuesday morning at a Mexican restaurant led police to a suspect who is wanted on felony charges in three states.
An employee at Costa Vida noticed a woman entering her unlocked car on surveillance video and taking a wallet from the glove compartment, said Elko Police Lt. Mike Palhegyi. Police were able to see what the woman and her vehicle looked like from the video. They advised the employee to cancel any credit cards and inform them if one were used.
About 45 minutes later, a credit card company reported the use of a card at Albertson’s, on the other side of town. Police were able to locate the vehicle a short time later near Riverton Motors, and pulled it over on a traffic stop.
Palhegyi said the suspect gave police a driver’s license that turned out not to be her true identity. After she was taken to jail she was determined to be Melissa D. Tschanz, 42, of Fair Oaks, California.
Tschanz is wanted on felony charges in California, Washington and Oregon, Palhegyi said. The State of California intends to extradite her, but details of that case were not available.
Tschanz was booked into Elko County Jail on charges of burglary, possession of burglary tools, destroying or concealing evidence, obtaining or possessing a credit or debit card without the cardholder’s consent, use of a credit or debit card or identification without consent, failure to give appropriate signal when required, failure to maintain lane or improper lane change, obtaining or using another person’s identification for harm or unlawful purpose, false statement to obstruct a public officer, and fugitive from another state.
Her bail was listed at $56,370.
According to news reports, Tschanz was arrested in November 2012 for robbing a Great Clips hair salon in Spokane. She was accused of entering the shop and threatening employees with pepper spray, taking money and leaving in her vehicle.
Police pulled over her vehicle on a traffic stop, but she attempted to flee, so police rammed her vehicle into a guardrail.
Bail in that case was set at $50,000.
