Women who allegedly stole car each charged with two felonies

A combined six felony charges were filed Thursday against the three women accused of driving a stolen car after allegedly taking it last week from the owner who left them in it while he went inside a convenience store.

Cheyenne Golding, 29, of Winterhaven, who was driving the vehicle at the time; Nikari Russel, 28, of Yuma; and Alvisshanna Osborne, 36, of Winterhaven, all each were charged with two felony counts of unlawful use of means of transportation.

All three women were arraigned in Yuma Justice Court before Justice of the Peace pro-tem Yolonda Torok, who set their next court dates – preliminary hearings – for 4 p.m. on Jan. 28. She also ordered their conditions of release, which had previously been established by Justice of the Peace Greg Stewart, remain in place.

Torok, after each of the defendants informed the court that they could not afford to hire their own attorneys, ordered their cases be sent to the conflict administrator's office to assign attorneys to represent them.

When Torok told the defendants that they would also be responsible for paying $750 to help cover the costs of the attorneys, Osborne said she would not be able to pay it.

“I wouldn't be able to pay that anyway because I'm going to prison anyway on a different charge,” Osborne said.

According to the Yuma County Sheriff's Office, at about 2:08 a.m. on Friday Jan. 18 deputies received a report that a vehicle had just been stolen at the Chevron at 8th Street and Avenue C in Yuma. The vehicle owner told deputies that he had left Paradise Casino with three women he had just met and they went to Walmart on Avenue B and then continued to the Chevron at 8th Street and Avenue C, where he went into the Chevron and left the women in the car.

The vehicle owner said that while he was inside the Chevron, the females left in his vehicle, without his permission, heading northbound on Avenue C. The vehicle was described as a 1997 green Geo Metro.

A description of the vehicle was sent to other area law enforcement agencies as sheriff deputies searched for it and the suspects. At approximately 2:40 a.m. the vehicle was spotted coming back into Yuma across the Ocean-to-Ocean Bridge by a Quechan police officer.

Sheriff's deputies responded and detained the occupants of the vehicle. The owner of the vehicle was then brought to the scene by a deputy and retrieved his stolen vehicle. The three occupants of the vehicle were arrested by deputies and booked into the Yuma County Jail on charges of theft of a means of transportation.

Golding and Russell were also booked on outstanding warrants for their arrest. Golding's warrant was for a misdemeanor charge of contempt of court. Russell's warrant was for felony violation of probation.