They have a history of car theft. Downtown Fresno police caught them on Fulton Street

A pair with a history of stealing cars was pulled over and arrested on Fulton Street in downtown Fresno by police on Friday.

Officers Adrianna Ponce and Mandeep Khela spotted Ryan Lecour, 42, as he was driving a stolen vehicle through downtown around 10 a.m., according to Sgt. Alfonso Castillo.

The officers waited until Lecour stopped at Fulton and Merced streets to pull him over, and he and 33-year-old passenger Margarita Valenzuela were arrested, Carillo said.

The vehicle was reported stolen from Kern and Pottle avenues in southwest Fresno not more than 24 hours before the pair was arrested. It was returned to its owner.

Carillo said both Lecour and Valenzuela have a history of property crimes and auto theft. They were both booked into the Fresno County Jail on suspicion of possessing a stolen vehicle.

Carillo shared good news about a crime trend: The rate of auto theft in the southwest district has gone down by 47 percent in the last 14 days.