California man charged in Nye with possession of stolen credit, ID cards

Nye County sheriff’s deputies arrested a Southern California man, identified by authorities as Jelani Jenkins, after receiving reports he was allegedly trespassing on a property in Pahrump.

As stated in a video news release, Public Information Officer Ann Horak said the person who reported the June 4 incident was the owner and builder of a new construction project on Blackhorn Street.

“The owner arrived to check on the property due to a recent theft from the new construction site,” Horak noted. The owner found a male in a white Lexus parked in the garage on the property, Horak reported. “The Lexus drove off and the owner followed the vehicle while providing dispatchers with updated locations.”

Horak went on to say that deputies were able to locate both vehicles in the area of Kellogg Road and Sandy Lane.

The driver of the Lexus was later identified as Jenkins, 39, of Long Beach, California, Horak said. “Jenkins told deputies that a friend left him on the property. He continued to tell deputies that his vehicle was stolen in California and he had information in the Lexus that would prove he was the victim.”

After Jenkins gave deputies consent to search the Lexus, eight credit cards and identification cards were found inside the vehicle, belonging to various people, according to the news release.

“Jenkins told deputies that when he recovered his vehicle from impound in California, all of the cards were found inside,” Horak said. “He had possession of them for four months and told deputies he planned to send letters to each person, to inform them that gangs in Los Angeles were using their information for fraud and identity theft.”

Horak also noted that once Jenkins was placed under arrest, deputies searched the vehicle before it was towed, and located approximately 40 additional credit cards and identification cards in a bag inside the vehicle.

Jenkins was booked into the Nye County Detention Center and charged with eight counts of possession of credit cards without the cardholder’s consent along with eight counts of possession of personal identifying information.

Contact reporter Selwyn Harris at sharris@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @pvtimes