City woman gets suspended sentence for 2019 truck theft, drug possession charges

Leah C. Costales (Rochester Police photo)

DOVER - A Rochester woman charged in June with stealing a truck in Farmington before ditching it in Lebanon, Maine, where she stole a second vehicle with an accomplice, pleaded guilty to a single charge of theft by unauthorized taking on Tuesday in Strafford County Superior Court.

Charges against 30-year-old Leah C. Costales in the June 2 incident also included two counts of receiving stolen property and two counts of resisting arrest, which were all nol prossed.

On the lone charge remaining, she received a 12-month term at Strafford County Jail, all suspended for three years.

The incident unfolded around 5:30 a.m. when Costales, who formerly resided in Lebanon, stole a Ford F-150 in Farmington.

Then police say Costales and a local man drove to Lebanon, where they ditched the truck and allegedly stole a Jeep Wrangler.

For whatever reason the pair then wound up in the Jeep at the Fillmore Boulevard park and ride off Washington Street just west of Rochester Crossing.

Rochester Police first got involved after a nearby Hale Street resident called dispatch around 12:50 p.m. to notify police they saw people park at the end of their road and take items into the woods. When officers arrived they widened their search to Fillmore Avenue where they found the Jeep which had been reported missing out of Lebanon.

Police later responded to nearby Hussey Hill Road for a report of more suspicious activity where they met a Maine State Trooper also searching for the suspects.

The trooper, who said he'd seen a suspect heading into the woods, along with Rochester officers then began combing the area soon finding her male associate, who surrendered without further incident.

Police then summoned a K-9 unit from Dover to track the female suspect, but the scent went cold.

Later in the evening, however, police got a call for a suspicious female at the North Street McDonald's, where Costales was taken into custody.

Costales was indicted on the receiving stolen property charge in July.

As part of Tuesday's plea deal before Judge Mark E. Howard, Costales also pleaded guilty to a June 30 charge of drug possession. For that offense she received a second 12-month sentence, also all suspended for three years.

Finally, on Tuesday, Costales also accepted an amended sentence for an August 2018 arrest on drug possession charges, for which she was given a 12-month sentence. Under the terms of the plea agreement Costales will be released as soon as she completes a therapeutic community program while remaining on good behavior.