Fewer than 48 hours before a California man allegedly murdered an 87-year-old Pocatello woman, he was cited by a sheriff’s deputy near Rigby, according to court documents obtained by the Idaho State Journal.

Dustin Garrett Alfaro, 18, of Marysville, California, is one of two people who were arrested late Wednesday night for allegedly killing Arlyne Koehler earlier in the week inside her home at 1055 McKinley Ave. on Pocatello’s north side.

Authorities have confirmed that Koehler was stabbed to death.

During a Thursday afternoon press conference at Pocatello police headquarters, deputy police chief Roger Schei said a 17-year-old boy also from Marysville, California, was arrested along with Alfaro.

The juvenile’s name has not yet been released.

Alfaro and the 17-year-old have been charged with first-degree murder for fatally stabbing Koehler and if convicted they could face the death penalty.

Bannock County prosecutors said they are not yet sure if they’re going to pursue the death penalty or if they’re going to charge the 17-year-old as an adult, but they said both moves are possible.

Police said that Koehler did not know Alfaro or the 17-year-old and it appears that the suspects randomly targeted her. Police have not commented on what the motive for her murder might have been.

Authorities are also not commenting on how Alfaro and the 17-year-old allegedly gained access to Koehler’s home and fatally stabbed her.

Schei said that considering the brutality of Koehler’s murder, Pocatello police went all out to bring those responsible to justice.

“This is the ultimate crime that could happen,” Schei said. “We take it personal when something like this happens in our community. When something like this happens we want people to know that crime is not acceptable in our community.”

Pocatello police Capt. James McCoy said Koehler was killed between 4 p.m. Monday and 2 p.m. Tuesday.

Around 6 p.m. Sunday, Alfaro was cited for failing to report an accident after he allegedly struck a power pole with his blue Ford Explorer on a rural road near Rigby, according to court documents.

A Jefferson County sheriff’s deputy investigating the damage to the power pole made contact with Alfaro at the Teton West RV Park south of Rigby, court records said. Alfaro told the deputy that he lost control of his vehicle, struck the pole and panicked, so he drove back to the RV park, court records said. As Alfaro retrieved his identification from his SUV, the deputy smelled what he thought to be the odor of marijuana coming from Alfaro’s vehicle, according to court records.

Upon searching the SUV, the deputy located a marijuana pipe and small amount of marijuana. However, the deputy did not cite Alfaro for the marijuana and he was not detained.

Alfaro explained to the deputy that he would be staying in Idaho for a while longer. The deputy issued Alfaro a citation for misdemeanor failing to report an accident and did not take him into custody.

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office told the Journal on Thursday that the deputy who responded to the incident did not observe Alfaro with the 17-year-old boy during the course of that investigation.

Alfaro and the 17-year-old were arrested in Yuba County, California, late Wednesday night by deputies with the Yuba County Sheriff’s Office, according to a Yuba County Sheriff’s Office press release. Yuba County as well as Marysville, where the two suspects are from, are located near Sacramento, California.

Alfaro and the 17-year-old were arrested while police in Yuba County were investigating multiple reports of gunshots in a residential area. A blue Ford Explorer was seen leaving the area following the gunshots, the Yuba County Sheriff’s Office said.

Alfaro was booked into the Yuba County Jail with a bail of $1 million and the juvenile was booked into a juvenile detention facility, the Yuba County Sheriff’s Office said.

Authorities have not yet said whether Alfaro and the 17-year-old were armed when they were arrested.

McCoy said police likely know why Alfaro and the 17-year-old were in Idaho but declined to comment on specifics. McCoy also said that he believes Alfaro has a criminal record that includes a felony conviction.

McCoy added that detectives with the Pocatello Police Department have plans to travel to California to retrieve additional evidence in the coming days.

Bannock County Deputy Prosecutor Zach Parris said the extradition process has been started, but he would not comment on when Alfaro and the 17-year-old are expected to arrive back to Idaho.

Moreover, McCoy said that once the juvenile is brought back to Idaho, a motion would have to be filed with the court to try him as an adult. Police will release the juvenile’s name if that motion is approved, McCoy added.

Bannock County Coroner Ely Taysom oversaw the autopsy of Koehler’s body on Thursday.

Pocatello police confirmed Thursday morning that Koehler was murdered inside her home at 1055 McKinley Ave. and that Alfaro and the 17-year-old had been arrested for allegedly killing her.

Police said they wanted to inform the community as soon as they could that the arrests had been made to allay any public safety concerns.

“Any time you have a situation like this where we did not have any suspects in custody and we had very limited information from the beginning it is our job to inform the public so that they are aware and are being vigilant,” Schei said. “The moment that we were safe to tell (people that we had made arrests in the case) we made sure that the public knew it was safe.”

On Wednesday morning after news broke about Koehler’s murder, police had encouraged Pocatello area residents to lock all their doors and windows and report any and all suspicious activity.

During a Wednesday morning press conference, Pocatello police announced that Koehler’s death was being investigated as a suspected murder, but they would not release further details.

Furthermore, police would not comment on what details led them to believe Alfaro and the 17-year-old were linked to the crime, nor would police comment on whether or not any additional crimes were committed in relation to Koehler’s death.

Police said a family member reported finding Koehler’s body at 7:39 p.m. Tuesday inside her home.

“A family member had come to the location because they had not heard from the resident,” Schei said. “The family member discovered that their relative was deceased and called police.”

Koehler’s McKinley Avenue home is located within a residential neighborhood near NOP Park and busy West Alameda Road.

On Wednesday afternoon, Koehler’s well-maintained home was cordoned off with police tape while police investigators continued processing evidence there. Schei said police detectives spent Wednesday collecting evidence and interviewing Koehler’s neighbors.

On Thursday, McCoy commended his officers and detectives for the many extra hours they spent working this case, which resulted in two arrests less than 48 hours after the investigation started.

”We put in a ton of leg work in this case,” McCoy said. “Our entire detective division worked 24 hours non-stop to develop leads and to follow up on them. We’re going to be working this until prosecution just to solidify the case and ensure we are successful on the prosecution. I couldn’t calculate the man hours but I have 15 people that have been working this 24 hours a day.”

During the Thursday press conference, Schei said the Pocatello police officers responsible for helping to locate the suspects in connection to Koehler’s murder were the same officers who on Monday evening took a man suffering from severe post-traumatic stress disorder into custody after he allegedly wanted to commit suicide by cop and threatened to shoot people in Old Town Pocatello.

No one was injured during that unrelated incident, but North Main Street was temporarily shut down to all traffic while police took the man into custody.

Police said it is worthy of praise that the same officers who responded to that incident were responding to Koehler’s murder 24 hours later and helped locate the suspects in her death.

“That same group of officers on the swing shift that (handled the incident on Monday evening) responded to this crime,” Schei said about Koehler’s death. “And in both cases, they had the utmost professionalism.”

Schei also expressed sympathy and compassion for the Koehler family.

“This is a very tragic event that has happened in our community,” Schei said. “Our condolences are with the family and we have the utmost respect for them.”