Hunter
07/04/23
An Iowa City woman arrested early Monday on an outstanding theft warrant after allegedly being found with drugs as a passenger in an Uber now faces an additional theft charge.
The initial outstanding warrant comes from a June 23rd incident where 27-year-old Tiara Roberts was stopped that afternoon operating a moped near Highland Avenue and Boyrum Street. She allegedly gave false claims as to how she came to possess the vehicle, which was stolen. The moped reportedly had been hot-wired, and Roberts didn’t have keys to the vehicle. The officer noted that in the time since that incident, 3 other stolen mopeds were allegedly located within 100 feet of her South Van Buren Street residence.
The new theft charge stems from an incident on June 6th, when Roberts showed up on the 300 block of South Lucas Street with multiple mopeds that she and her accomplices had allegedly stolen. An individual purchased one of the vehicles that day and was arrested by Coralville Police on June 7th for possessing a stolen moped. The buyer admitted that the moped had been sold to him without any keys, paperwork, or title, and had been spray painted to alter its original color.
One of Roberts’ accomplices was arrested by University of Iowa Police on June 27th for reportedly attempting to hotwire and steal multiple mopeds. Roberts was allegedly identified as part of that scheme and had taught the accomplice how to steal mopeds.
An Iowa City officer interviewed the individual arrested on June 7th. He reportedly identified Roberts as the person who sold him the moped. A witness to the sale identified Roberts as well, and allegedly saw her arriving with the mopeds.
She now faces two counts of 2nd degree Theft, as well as drug and drug paraphernalia possession charges. If convicted on all counts, Roberts could now be sentenced to over 12 years in prison.