CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Thanks to quick work by a police dispatcher and officers, the Clearlake Police Department has recovered the “food truck” trailer that was reported stolen from the Lakeport Senior Activity Center earlier this week.

Executive Director Jonathan Crooks told Lake County News that center staff noticed the trailer – used for fundraisers for the meals on Wheels program – was missing from its spot in the parking lot on Wednesday morning.

Clearlake Police Lt. Tim Celli said two Clearlake residents – Ian Lee James, 39, and Victoria Ann James, 29 – were found in possession of the trailer and arrested Thursday evening.

Celli said that on Thursday police received information from a confidential source that the trailer was in the area of 22nd and Irving avenues in Clearlake.

At approximately 5 p.m. Clearlake Police officers Mark Harden and Travis Parson responded to the area to attempt to locate the trailer, Celli said.

When Harden and Parson arrived, they found the Jameses stripping parts from the trailer, including removing the license plate from it, Celli said.

Celli said the license plate that the pair had removed from the trailer did not match it. The officers ran the vehicle identification number, however that record was not on file.

Clearlake Police Dispatcher Alexis Anderson contacted the California Highway Patrol to verify the agency took the stolen vehicle report. Celli said Anderson confirmed the report was taken by CHP, however one number was off on the vehicle identification number, which was later clarified.

Due to the discrepancy, Anderson located a photo of the trailer published that day by Lake County News and copied the photograph to Officer Harden, who was able to confirm it was the stolen trailer.

During the investigation, the suspects stated to officers that they found the trailer on the side of the road and were preparing to live in it, Celli said.

Other statements made by the suspects were inconsistent and it was determined there was probable cause to arrest them for possession of stolen property, Celli said.

Ian and Victoria James were later booked into the Lake County Jail. Bail was set at $15,000 each, and jail records indicated that they later posted the required percentage of bail and were released.

Celli credited the recovery of the trailer to the dispatcher's determination and the investigation by the officers.

On Friday, the trailer was back at the Lakeport Senior Center.

Some of the windows had been painted, there were small loose items that were gone – including two propane tanks that had been located on the front of the vehicle – and some minor body damage.

Crooks said that, overall, it didn't appear to be in bad shape, which he called a “very surprising outcome.”