Members of the Fresno HEAT (Help Eliminate Auto Theft) Task Force have booked 41-year-old Cynthia Abate of Clovis into the Fresno County Jail. Abate faces charges of auto theft, identity theft and drug possession.
On Tuesday afternoon, members of HEAT located a stolen BMW on the streets of downtown Fresno. Officers followed it to a parking area on M Street in front of the Fresno County Jail. They contacted the driver, Cynthia Abate, and determined she had used a false name and credit card to rent the car from a car rental agency and had no intention of ever returning it. Inside the car, officers found drugs and stolen credit cards. Abate was also in possession of homemade credit cards, which were stamped with fake names.
During the interview, officers learned Abate was going to the jail to visit her boyfriend. He was arrested in May and happens to be serving time for the same crimes of auto theft and identity theft.
The stolen BMW will be returned to the rental agency which owns it.
Anyone with additional information on Abate is asked to please contact the Sheriff’s Office at (559) 600-3111 or call Crime Stoppers at (559) 498-STOP (7867).
***HEAT is comprised of members from the California Highway Patrol, Fresno County Sheriff's Office (FCSO), the National Insurance Crime Bureau and Clovis Police Department.
