Police arrest suspected crime duo
Irvine police have arrested a Costa Mesa couple who detectives suspect worked as a robbery and getaway team.
Tyler Kovacs, 27, would try to steal something while his wife Karen Kovacs, 26, waited in a car idling nearby, police alleged Tuesday.
Tyler Kovacs asked to borrow someone’s iPhone in a coffee shop at Alton Parkway and Jeffrey Road in Irvine about 5 p.m. Monday, police said. When he tried to leave with the phone, the victim chased him and tried to physically stop him, but the husband reached his wife’s waiting car and escaped, police said.
While police investigated, they linked the couple to a March 28 burglary in Irvine, according to a news release from the Irvine Police Department.
In that case, the victim pulled into her garage and left both the garage and car doors unlocked, police said. She went into her home momentarily and returned to find Tyler Kovacs in the car, police said.
He allegedly fled to a nearby car driven by his wife before he could steal anything.
Husband and wife were arrested Monday night on suspicion of robbery, burglary and conspiracy, according to police. Tyler Kovacs was also arrested on a no-bail probation warrant, according to police.
Although the couple are Costa Mesa residents, they often board in long-term motels in different cities, like the one detectives found them at in Yorba Linda, police said.
They were booked into Orange County Jail, where Karen Kovacs’ bail was set at $50,000, police said.
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