A Juneau woman reportedly left the Mendenhall Valley Breeze In store, stepped into a car, then drove away — but it wasn’t her car.
Reyna M. Regalado, 31, was indicted Wednesday for felony vehicle theft.
According to charging documents, a witness watched as Regalado got inside of and drove away in a 2015 Ford Fusion that a man had just stepped out of to go inside the store Sept. 22. The next day, a Juneau Police Department officer located the car behind the Andrew Hope building in the Willoughby District downtown. JPD reviewed the security footage and confirmed that Regalado abandoned the vehicle and left the area on foot, the documents allege. She also allegedly stole items from the car.
Regalado was arrested about an hour later. According to online court records, this is the second time Regalado has faced a felony charge in Alaska. She was charged with burglary in 2013, but prosecutors dismissed the charge. In the past six years, she has also pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges including assault (2011), larceny (2012, 2016), resisting arrest (2014), making a false report (2014), assault (2014) and criminal mischief (2015, 2016).
She is also currently facing a misdemeanor larceny charge in Juneau District Court for a Sept. 17 offense. For the vehicle theft charge, Regalado was arraigned Thursday in Juneau Superior Court.
Second indictment
The grand jury also indicted Christopher G. Stetson, 65, for two felonies in an unrelated case: misconduct involving a controlled substance and misconduct involving weapons.
According to JPD charging documents, at 1:55 p.m. on Oct. 1, JPD officers found Stetson asleep in a car outside the Harbor Heights apartment complex parking lot, 3444 Nowell Ave. Stetson reportedly woke up when police knocked on his window, then fell asleep again, then finally woke up to answer questions.
Police said they could see a pistol outlined through a black hoodie he was wearing, and when they asked Stetson about the weapon, he reportedly told police he couldn’t remember if there was a gun on him or not. When officers retrieved the loaded revolver from his right hip, he told police he normally doesn’t carry a gun on him. Police later confirmed the gun was stolen during a residential burglary on June 30.
The charging documents also state that during a body search, police found two clear plastic bags containing a substance believed to be 19.4 grams of methamphetamine. Stetson reportedly told officers he planned on delivering that substance to a second person.
Online court records show that Stetson has previous felony convictions for attempting to commit a crime (2000), assault (2000) and misconduct involving a controlled substance (2005). He also has multiple misdemeanor convictions dating back to 2000 for theft, reckless driving and larceny of money.
Stetson was arraigned Thursday in Juneau Superior Court.
• Contact reporter Paula Ann Solis at 523-2272 or paula.solis@juneauempire.com.
Read more news:
‘There’s no fighting back’: Mauling survivor recalls being in the grip of a brown bear
Ruled out by Division of Elections, Haines man keeps campaigning anyway
