Three women who were spotted allegedly stealing mail from mailboxes by an alert resident in Twentynine Palms were arrested Saturday. About 2 p.m., the resident saw two women near Highway 62 and Pinto Mountain Road taking mail out of mailboxes in the area. The resident called the Sheriff’s Department and gave a description of the women, their vehicle, and the vehicle’s license plate number. Based on that information, deputies went to the home of Jennifer Penaflor, 39, in the 4800 block of Flying H Road in Twentynine Palms. The suspect vehicle was in her driveway.
Penaflor was inside along with several pieces of mail and prescriptions that did not belong to her. Deputies learned that her accomplice, Makala Taufi, 37, of Twentynine Palms, was at a nearby motel. Deputies then went to the motel in the 73100 block of 29 Palms Highway and learned that Krystle Edwards, 33, of Twentynine Palms, had rented a room where she and Taufi were staying. Edwards is on Post-Release Community Supervision and has a prior arrest for identity theft. Taufi matched the description of the second woman with Penaflor. Also in the room were several bags of opened and unopened mail, California drivers’ licenses, credit cards, and financial records, none of which belonged to any of the women. Jennifer Penaflor, Krystle Edwards, and Makala Taufi were arrested for investigation of possession of stolen property and conspiracy, booked into West Valley Detention Center, with their bail set at $25,000 each.
