They stole $10,000 with identity theft, Merced police say. One is still on the loose

Merced police arrested a man and woman, and are looking for another man, for allegedly stealing multiple identities, officers said Tuesday.

Police have been investigating a "series of identity theft cases" since December after multiple people reported that their mail had been stolen, according to officers.

Brothers 29-year-old Kevin and Ruben Chavez, 32, stole more than $10,000 in total from 10 victims, police said. They used the victims' information to open credit cards and other accounts, police said.

The brothers also were involved in stealing packages that held TVs and other electronics, police said.

Police served two search warrants on Thursday at homes, where they found "several ounces" of methamphetamine, heroin and other items related to identify theft and drug sales, police said.

Detectives arrested Kevin Chavez and Priscilla Flores during the search on suspicion of identity theft and child endangerment, police said. He's held in lieu of $150,000 bail, and she is no longer in custody, according to jail records.

Ruben Chavez was not found and is not in custody, police said.

Merced Police are asking anyone with any information regarding this incident to contact Detective Moses Nelson at 209-388-7756. The public can send information via anonymous text messages to the police department by dialing “TIP411” (847411) and including the word “Comvip” as the “keyword” in the text message.

This story was originally published May 8, 2018 at 4:12 PM with the headline "They stole $10,000 with identity theft, Merced police say. One is still on the loose."