VISALIA – The Tulare County Sheriff’s Office (TCSO) reported the arrest of two men for what the TCSO described as a “typical Nacho crime.”
TCSO detectives arrested Pablo Serrano and Juan Mendez on Aug. 12 for their alleged involvement in a truck robbery; Serrano was arrested for conspiracy to commit a crime, arson and insurance fraud and Mendez was arrested for conspiracy and arson. At least one other suspect is being questioned, TCSO said in an Aug. 12 news release.
The sheriff’s office said these arrests came after officers responded to a 911 call about a stolen truck on West Caldwell Avenue in Visalia on Aug. 2. Serrano, the owner of the Sabor Latino Taco Truck, told detectives that his truck – not his food truck, but his $80,000 pickup truck – was stolen along with cash in a robbery.
Surveillance footage from the taco truck captured the robbery on video. In one frame from the video shared by TCSO, a man in a light blue hoodie can be seen with his hands on the arms of another man as the other man and a third person begin to raise their hands up.
TCSO said investigators tracked down the stolen truck to an orchard near Woodlake, fully engulfed in flames. The truck was a total loss, and the fire caused $10,000 in damage to the orchard.
“In the days following the robbery and arson, detectives found evidence that Serrano had staged the robbery with his friends in order to file an insurance claim on the $80,000 truck,” TCSO said. “The day following the robbery, Serrano filed an insurance claim on his burned-out vehicle.”
TCSO asks anyone with information to call the Sheriff’s Office at 1-800-808-0488. Individuals can submit information anonymously at [email protected] or via text or voicemail at 559-725-4194.
