SPD: Men in stolen car were talking to prostitute

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) - Police in Springfield say that they have arrested two men who they saw sitting in a stolen car talking to a prostitute.

Sgt. John Delaney told 22News that Joshua Tanner, 30, of Northampton, and Ramiro DeJesus, 41, homeless, were arrested Thursday morning on charges of receiving a stolen motor vehicle and possession of burglarious instruments.

Around 5:00 A.M., police saw a brown Honda Accord pull to the side of the road on Wendell Place near Main Street. Delaney says that the two men inside then began talking to a “known prostitute.”

Police ran the license plate, and discovered that the car was registered to a Northampton resident. On approaching the car, Delaney says that police noticed that the steering column was damaged, which is often a sign that a car has been stolen.

The officers contacted Northampton police, who went to the home where the car was registered, and discovered that the Honda had in fact been stolen from the owner’s driveway.

Police then arrested Tanner and DeJesus, who are scheduled to be arraigned later in the day in Springfield District Court.

According to Delaney, the Honda was filled with tools used in the theft of cars.