Two arrested after Colorado deputy sees panhandler get into "very expensive sports car"

By Logan Smith
March 14, 2026 / 4:21 PM MDT / CBS Colorado

A man and a woman allegedly begging for money to fund their cross-country travels in a stolen car were arrested this week in Colorado. ... Their journey came to an end Tuesday in Craig. There, employees of a grocery store called 9-1-1 to complain about a young woman who was repeatedly asking people for money. Staff believed she was disturbing the store's customers.

A lieutenant with the Moffat County Sheriff's Office responded to the call. He drove to the store and spoke with the woman. The 21-year-old woman claimed she had "fallen on hard times and just needed help getting home to her mother," according to a Moffat County Sheriff's Office press release.

The lieutenant gave her "a few dollars," as stated in the press release. ... He then watched her walk across the store's parking lot and get into the passenger seat of "a very expensive sports car." ... The lieutenant called in the car's license plate and learned it had been reported stolen out of Oregon "under allegedly violent circumstances," per the press release.

The car was pulled over after leaving the parking lot. A police K9 alerted to the scent of drugs, and paraphernalia was located during a search. It tested positive for fentanyl, per the press release.


Noe Gabrielsen (left) and Fallon Frederick, both 21, were arrested Tuesday in Craig after a Moffat County Sheriff's Office lieutenant heard Frederick's story of financial woe and handed her money. Frederick then got into a "very expensive sports car," according to the sheriff's office, which turned out to be stolen in Oregon.
Moffat County Sheriff's Office/ Facebook

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Logan Smith
Logan Smith is an assignment desk editor at CBS Colorado in Denver with more than 30 years of journalism experience in digital, television and print media.

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