CALIFORNIA STOLEN COMPUTERS USED BY IDENTITY THEFT RINGRedlands Daily Facts - NewsBurglary probe nets eight arrests

By the Daily Facts

Three more suspects apprehended in investigation that may solve May spike in commercial thefts here
For the Daily Facts

A sharp spike in commercial burglaries during the month of May sparked an investigation that has yielded eight arrests so far, including three which occurred Thursday morning when Redlands detectives served a search warrant at a home in Moreno Valley. The investigation has also revealed a possible identity theft ring, according to police.

At the single-family residence in 25400 block of Las Paloma Street police recovered counterfeit driver licenses and numerous items believed to have been stolen in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, including laptop computers, printers, credit cards, mail and a handgun from the home, officials said.

Police believe the stolen computer equipment was used to create false identification.

Moreno Valley residents Ray Harris, 34, Lisa Malone, 21, and Richard Hernandez, 35, were arrested, police said.

Harris, who already faces separate charges of identity theft and drug possession, was charged with receiving stolen property and received a $500,000 bail enhancement, according to officials.

Malone, who is on felony probation for identity theft, was charged with possession of stolen property and received a $250,000 bail enhancement.

Hernandez was charged with drug possession.

The three are part of what Detective Travis Martinez called "a spider web of suspects" identified in the course of investigating the more than 30 commercial burglaries that took place from mid-April through May. Many of the burglaries involved window smashes and the theft of laptops in common, police said.

In May, a traffic stop in a commercial area in the west end of town led to the arrest of Robert Roy Reynolds, 24, a parolee in possession of burglary tools at the time, according to police. That night police went in search of Michael Anthony Gutierrez, 23. They found him and a laptop reportedly stolen from a business in the 400 block of Business Center Drive in a Redlands motel.

Gutierrez admitted to being involved in the Business Center Drive burglary and two burglaries in Orange Tree Lane, where Reynolds was driving when he was pulled over and arrested.

At the time of his arrest, Gutierrez was in possession of ATM cards and a cell phone stolen during a burglary in Yucaipa.

Gutierrez has a stolen ATM card that has been used at a Citibank in Redlands, according to police. Casey Stockton Young, 25, of San Bernardino, was videotaped trying to use the card, police said. Young was identified as a suspect after the bank's surveillance image ran in the Daily Facts. Young was arrested in June at a Colton motel and is on felony probation for carjacking, police reported.

On June 16 detectives searched a room in a San Bernardino residence and recovered "a number" of laptop computers allegedly stolen from a series of commercial burglaries during which windows of local business were smashed, officials said.

Allen Rupock Boidya, 28, a citizen of Bangladesh, was staying in a the room, police said. He was arrested in Cathedral City at a Comfort Suites hotel on June 24 for possession of stolen property. Boidya was identified as a suspect after police traced stolen credit card purchases back to him.

Boidya was in possession of forged driver's licenses; stolen credit cards, checkbooks and financial statements; stolen social security cards; and methamphetamines, according to reports.

A woman, Sara Rose Jepson, 25, of Chino Hills, was arrested at the scene, according to Baker, for also being in possession of forged driver's licenses and stolen credit cards.

According to police spokesman Carl Baker, Boidya claimed to have "never stolen anything" and said that he bought computers and sold them on e-Bay.

A fingerprint on one computer belonged to Gutierrez, 23, arrested a month earlier.

Police are now working to locate the rightful owners of the stolen property that has been recovered so far. The investigation is ongoing and additional arrests may be made, officials said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Travis Martinez at 798-7688.

Staff Writers David James Heiss and Colleen Mensching contributed to this report.