Two North Platte residents are in jail on felony theft charges after police allegedly found them in possession of stolen vehicles.

On May 13, at around 11:20 p.m., an officer on patrol observed a running vehicle parked on the side of the street in the 800 block of East 12th Street. The officer reported that 41-year-old Shane Ross was in the driver’s seat and was known to have a suspended license. When the officer ran the license plate of the vehicle, it came back as fictitious.

The officer was en route to another call and was therefore unable to make contact with Ross.

After completing the call, the officer was advised that someone was attempting to enter homes in the area of 13th and Silber Streets.

According to police, the officer returned to the vehicle that he had reportedly seen Ross in earlier and found it to be unoccupied.

A check of the vehicle identification number (VIN) found that it had been reported as stolen in Kansas.

More officers arrived and made contact with 26-year-old Erica Charging Elk, who was sitting in a vehicle in the driveway of a nearby residence. Officers ran that vehicle’s VIN and found that it had been reported stolen out of South Dakota.

Police say Ross and an unidentified male emerged from the garage of a residence, at which time Ross was placed under arrest.

Charging Elk was also arrested and both were transported to the Lincoln County Detention Center. Both have been charged with theft by unlawful taking-over $5,000, a Class IIA felony, for allegedly being in possession of the stolen vehicles.