CALIFORNIA COMPUTER THEFT RING SUSPECTS CAUGHT cbs5.com - Bay City News Wire

TWO ARRESTED IN BURGLARY, IDENTITY THEFT RING01/14/07 3:50 PST
SANTA ROSA (BCN)

After more than two months of investigation, Santa Rosa police arrested two people Thursday in connection with a suspected burglary and identity theft ring that has been operating in Sonoma and Marin counties since at least October, Santa Rosa police reported.

Police began investigating a rash of commercial burglaries involving theft of Dell laptop and desktop computers stolen from several Santa Rosa businesses in November.

As they dug deeper, investigators discovered that the commercial burglaries were connected to a larger burglary and identity theft ring that had been operating in Sonoma and Marin Counties for the past several months, police reported. Suspects in the burglaries and thefts had stolen expensive computer and camera equipment as well as employee identification information, which they used to set up accounts at other retail electronics and computer stores to fraudulently obtain more equipment, according to police.

The losses from the thefts are estimated to be in excess of $100,000, police reported.

Over the past two weeks, investigators served search warrants on several locations in Santa Rosa and Rohnert Park, where they recovered "substantial amounts" of fraudulently obtained computer and electronic equipment, police reported.

Police also received information on the identities of two of the suspects who were reportedly making final preparations to leave the state in an attempt to avoid attest, police reported.

At about 6 p.m. Thursday police arrested 21-year-old Marquis Nicole Kaufmann at a restaurant in San Rafael. Police searched the vehicle Kaufmann had been driving and found several items of stolen property from the burglaries, according to police.

At about 8 p.m. Thursday police made their second arrest at an Oakland gas station. Nathan Josiah Redins, 31, was taken into custody and police found several items from the burglaries in the car he was driving, according to police.

Kaufmann and Redins were booked into Sonoma County jail on suspicion of multiple burglaries, identity thefts, possession of stolen property, possession of burglary tools and possession of methamphetamine, police reported.

Redins had prior convictions for vandalism, burglary, grand theft and resisting arrest, according to a police report.

Anyone with information on the case is asked to call Detective Mike Tosti at (707) 543-4071.