Vallejo woman arrested for faking carjacking in Madera County

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Photos courtesy Madera County Sheriff's Office

VALLEJO, Calif. - The Madera County Sheriff's Office this week announced the arrest of a Vallejo woman suspected of faking a carjacking.

Woman fakes carjacking

What we know:

Sheriff's officials said on Friday, May 23 at 8 a.m., that their dispatch received a 911 call from a woman who was identified as Martha Gutierrez DeRomero, 57, of Vallejo.

In the call, DeRomero said she was the victim of a carjacking at Avenue 21 and Road 26 in Madera County. Deputies responded to interview the woman.

She told police she was driving her white Chevrolet panel van full of merchandise to sell at a local swap meet. She claimed she pulled over to rearrange the merchandise and that two masked men approached and carjacked her at knife point.

DeRomero said the van contained $60,000 of merchandise. A description of the suspects and the stolen van was shared with surrounding agencies.

Officials said Merced County sheriff's officials found the van on Sandy Mush Road.

Detectives responded to the scene to investigate, but upon a follow-up interview with DeRomero they learned that she and her boyfriend, Andrew Ledezma, 57, of Madera had staged the carjacking as part of an insurance fraud scheme, sheriff's officials said.

The abandoned van was processed and the merchandise that was supposedly "stolen" was found in a storage facility in Merced.

DeRomero was booked into the Madera County Jail for felony insurance fraud and conspiracy, in addition to filing a false police report.

The boyfriend is potentially facing charges for insurance fraud and conspiracy.

"Attempting to exploit emergency services for personal gain is not only illegal, it diverts resources from those who truly need help," Sheriff Tyson Pogue said in a social media post.