MADERA COUNTY, Calif. — An alarming incident on Friday, May 23, in Central California prompted deputies from the entire county to respond urgently – a woman found herself carjacked and abandoned on a secluded road.

A resident of Vallejo, Martha Gutierrez DeRomero, reported that early that morning, she stopped beside the road close to Avenue 21 and Road 26 to adjust her van’s load when two masked men with a knife carjacked her.

DeRomero said her van was packed with $60,000 worth of merchandise she sells at swap meets.

Madera County deputies were pulled from their posts to investigate and find the alleged suspects.

“We had other agencies like CHP, our Madera agencies and Merced, everybody out looking for this vehicle,” says Madera County Sheriff Tyson Pogue.

Sheriff Pogue said early on, his deputies were suspicious, but they weren’t taking any chances.

“Robberies entail violence and danger, which can be unpredictable,” he mentioned. “There’s always a risk that as they drive away, they might turn around and harm the victim to prevent them from reporting the crime, or they could use the stolen vehicle to commit more severe acts, such as robbery or murder.”

What they didn’t know then was that Merced deputies had found that van and were doing their own investigation.

“It appears that they offloaded the merchandise out of the van, went and dumped it out in a rural area of Merced County,” Pogue said.

The merchandise was found in a storage unit, also in Merced.

Eventually, Pogue says DeRomero admitted to scheming with her boyfriend, Alfredo Delezma, to commit insurance fraud.

Sheriff Pogue says it seems the two were the only ones involved, and the masked men likely didn’t exist.

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

Delezma hasn’t been arrested, but could also face charges.

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