Two young travelers allegedly caught begging for money outside a Colorado grocery store ended up behind bars after police discovered the luxury sports car they arrived in had reportedly been stolen hundreds of miles away.
Fallon Frederick and Neo Gabrielsen, both 21, were arrested Tuesday in Moffat County, Colorado, after employees at the City Market grocery store in Craig called police about an alleged homeless woman asking shoppers for money outside the store. The Daily Mail reports that things didn’t last long though once police arrived and inspected the car they were traveling in.
Officers were called to the business after employees notified them of a woman loitering outside the business entrance soliciting customers for money. When deputies arrived they determined the woman was Frederick and located Gabrielsen in the area.
Shortly after, a lieutenant arrived on scene and questioned the woman about what was happening. The alleged thief reportedly informed the deputy she “had fallen on hard times and just needed help getting home to her mother” sheriff’s officials wrote in a statement.
Homelessness is also a money train and laundering scheme. At the expense of the homeless. SICK. https://t.co/oft48YJMMc
— Rosie Aguilar MAGA/MAHA! (@RosieAguilar59) March 16, 2026
“Being the good-hearted soul that he is, our lieutenant gave her a few dollars,” the Colorado sheriff’s office said in the news release. But, according to authorities, “things quickly took an unexpected turn” when the lieutenant watched Frederick walk across the parking lot and climb into the passenger seat of “a very expensive sports car.”
Lieutenant noticed something suspicious about Colorado’s panhandling activities, running the plate of the car Colorado was riding in. The officer found that the sports car was reported stolen from Washington County, Oregon. Once Colorado drove away from the parking lot, the lieutenant pulled him over.
A police canine sniffed Colorado’s car during the stop and alerted officers to drugs. During the traffic stop, a police K9 alerted officers to the possible presence of drugs in the car. Deputies searched the vehicle and located drug paraphernalia that later tested positive for fentanyl.
Investigators also discovered a diary inside the vehicle that Frederick allegedly used to document her and Gabrielsen’s travels through multiple states. According to authorities, the journal included entries describing how the pair relied on the generosity of strangers while begging for money during their journey.
Officials said the diary turned out to be unexpectedly useful to investigators. Colorado authorities described it as “one of the more helpful pieces of evidence we’ve seen in a while.”
Colorado police report that the journal seemingly chronicled the couple’s travels through multiple states leading up to their arrival in northwestern Colorado. Police said finding the journal was one of the clues that helped them connect how the stolen vehicle ended up in Colorado after being stolen from Oregon. Frederick and Gabrielsen have since been booked into the Moffat County, Colo. Jail.
Police have yet to release information on how the suspects are alleged to have come into possession of the stolen vehicle or how long they had been driving before being apprehended in Craig. Colorado police are continuing to investigate.
What began as a call about someone asking shoppers for spare change outside a grocery store ultimately ended with two arrests, the recovery of a stolen sports car, and a diary that investigators say helped reveal the suspects’ unusual cross-state journey.
