Pair arrested on suspicion of robbery, conspiracy after purse stolen at knifepoint in Costa Mesa

Two suspects were arrested Thursday on suspicion of robbery, stemming from their alleged involvement in an incident during which a woman in her vehicle was reportedly robbed at knifepoint as her child slept in the back seat, according to police.

A man and woman — Jacob Aaron Vazquez, 20, and Esther Kavina Maultsby, 19, both of Costa Mesa — were being held in custody Tuesday on charges of robbery and conspiracy to commit a crime, a spokeswoman for the Costa Mesa Police Department confirmed.

Maultsby was also booked for being found in possession of metal or brass knuckles, records indicate.

Officers were called to the 1400 block of Baker Street at around 2:55 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 11, regarding a robbery that had just occurred in a bank parking lot, according to a department release issued Friday.

The victim told officers she’d been sitting in her car with her young child asleep in a car seat in the rear of the vehicle when a man opened the front passenger side door and brandished a knife, the release indicates.

“The male suspect demanded her purse and her money and threatened the victim before taking her purse,” it continues. “He then got into the passenger side of the suspect vehicle.”

The victim approached the man in an effort to retrieve her stolen purse but was thwarted by a second suspect, a woman, who allegedly shoved the victim away from the vehicle before the pair fled from the scene, according to the release.

Police report the victim was able to get license plate information for the suspects’ vehicle before it was driven out of her view.

While investigating the robbery, officers received another call regarding an incident at Costa Mesa’s TeWinkle Park earlier that day involving a purse theft and suspects matching the same descriptions, the release stated.

Officers eventually located the suspect vehicle in a parking lot on the 1200 block of Adams Avenue, less than a mile away from the bank where the woman was robbed.

“They were in the car and were stopped as they were leaving and were arrested,” Costa Mesa police spokeswoman Roxi Fyad confirmed Tuesday.

Property belonging to both the victim at the bank and the victim of the TeWinkle Park theft was recovered from the suspects’ vehicle and returned to its rightful owners, officials reported.

Inmate records maintained by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office indicate Vazquez was being held at the Theo Lacy Facility in the city of Orange, while Maultsby was in custody at the Intake Release Center in Santa Ana. Both were being held on $50,000 bail and are due to appear in court Wednesday.

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