Woman arrested in string of carjackings

A 21-year-old Santa Ana woman with a lengthy criminal record was arrested in connection with a three-city carjacking spree last week, authorities said.

Tustin police detectives arrested Jocelyn Cano at a Santa Ana home on March 12, three days after a woman stole two cars in Irvine and Costa Mesa and then ran after she failed to take a third in Tustin.

Police said detectives used forensic evidence at the Tustin crime scene to identify Cano, who is on parole. She pleaded guilty to felony burglary in October 2013 and was sentenced to two years in state prison, according to court records.

Her record also includes arrests in auto theft and drug cases, the Tustin Police Department said in a statement.

The carjacking spree began around 6 p.m. March 9 when a woman ordered another out of a car in a parking lot in the 17000 block of Von Karman Avenue in Irvine. When the driver refused, the woman approached another driver in the parking lot, brandished a knife and stole his car.

That vehicle was found abandoned on the 73 Freeway in Costa Mesa after the woman carjacked a Toyota Prius nearby, police said.

Just after 7 p.m., the woman attempted another carjacking near Edinger Avenue and Jamboree Road in Tustin. Police said she knocked the female driver to the ground but wasn’t able to take the car. She instead fled on foot, authorities said.

Cano is being held in Orange County Jail on suspicion of carjacking, attempted carjacking, brandishing a knife and assault likely to cause great bodily injury.