Package thief suspects taken into custody

Two Indian Hills women were jailed Thursday in the alleged theft of packages off Carson Valley porches just before Christmas.

Roommates Evelyn Aceves, 34, and Alisha Ezell, 40, were each charged with burglary, theft and fraudulent use of a credit card.

The women are in Douglas County Jail on $1,500 bail and appeared Friday before East Fork Justice Jim EnEarl.

He appointed Kris Brown to represent Aceves and Tod Young to represent Ezell.

Prosecutor Karen Dustman said Friday that Aceves had a 1996 theft conviction in Merced, Calif.

Aceves told EnEarl she was on medical leave from her job loading trailers for UPS.

The women were identified after Douglas County Sheriff's Investigator Greg Rooney watched store video surveillance showing the women using stolen gift cards at Walmart.

Rooney was investigating the thefts of packages delivered by UPS and Federal Express in December and January. The packages were taken before the homeowners arrived.

A half-dozen thefts occurred in Douglas County and others were reported in Carson City and Reno.

A Reno victim sent Rooney a video of one of the suspects removing a package from her front porch.

During an interview with the women, Rooney received a full confession from both of them detailing their involvement in several of the thefts.

Items taken in Douglas included a vehicle ladder rack, a child's pedal car, holiday gift cards, clothes, toys, books, and a Christmas wreath. The value of the items stolen is estimated at about $2,500.

According to reports, the women said they took the items because they were short money for Christmas gifts. Aceves reportedly told Rooney they grabbed the packages, opened them in the car, and put them back if they didn't want them.

She claimed to have given the Christmas wreath to a friend who was dying of cancer.

Aceves also reportedly took dog and cat food from a porch in Johnson Lane.