Marietta police arrested two men, including one who was recently released from prison, after an officer caught them driving an SUV with a stolen license plate.
Oscar Guardado and Fernando Escamilla were both taken into custody Monday following a traffic stop, according to Cobb County arrest warrants.
Investigators said Guardado had just gotten out of a California prison after serving time for manslaughter. Both men are gang members from South Central Los Angeles, police said.
According to warrants, police pulled over a 2002 Hyundai Sante Fe that Guardado was driving on South Marietta Parkway about 1:30 p.m. License plate reader technology flagged the SUV’s plate as stolen, Marietta police said in a Facebook post.
Guardado told police he purchased the vehicle but never registered it with the state, according to warrants. During a search of the SUV, officers found several other temporary tags for vehicles of the same make and model but with different vehicle identification numbers.
Police said they also found glass pipes with methamphetamine residue in them. One was found in the glove box of the vehicle, and the other was located in a bag of tattoo equipment that belonged to Escamilla, according to warrants.
Guardado and Escamilla were booked into the Cobb County Adult Detention Center on a count of methamphetamine possession.
In addition, Guardado is charged with theft by receiving, driving with a suspended license, driving without insurance, driving without license plate registration and acquiring a license for the purpose of concealing motor vehicle identification. He remains in jail on a $5,170 bond, records show. Escamilla is being held there in lieu of a $1,870 bond.
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