Woman Accused of Car Theft, Fake Prescriptions

A woman suspected of trying to fill bogus prescriptions at a local pharmacy was collared Friday while driving a car allegedly stolen from Temecula.

Andrea Barajas, 39, of Wildomar, was arrested at a gas station at 39614 Los Alamos Road in Murrieta at about 2:35 p.m. Friday.

She is suspected of trying to fill the prescriptions Wednesday at , according to Murrieta police Lt. Tony Conrad.

The lieutenant stated in a news release that the pharmacy had called police to report the fake prescriptions while the suspect was in the store to pick them up.

When officers arrived, the woman had gone but the car in which she drove off was described as a 2011 black Toyota Corolla with no license plates, Conrad said.

An officer spotted the Toyota -- sans license plates -- at the Shell station, the lieutenant said.

"The driver was identified as Andrea Barajas," Conrad said.  

Police allege Barajas was the same woman who had tried to fill the fake presciptions at Rite Aid two days earlier, and that a DMV check on the car she was driving showed it had been purchased through fraud in Temecula. 

Barajas was to be booked into the Southwest Detention Center on suspicion of possessing and passing a forged prescription, taking or driving a vehicle without the owner's consent and violating the terms of bail on a crime for which she is being prosecuted.

The Toyota was returned to its legal owner, he said.

Anyone with information regarding the investigation was asked to call the on-duty watch commander at 951-696-3615. 

Tips can also be provided anonymously through “We Tip” at 1-800-78-Crime.