A California man faces several charges of Mail Theft and False Information to a Police Officer after the Central Oregon Drug Enforcement Team detectives located and arrested him in the La Pine area.
On March 20th, 2023, at approximately 3:00 PM, the Central Oregon Drug Enforcement Team, in collaboration with the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office and Sunriver Police Department, received information that the 39-year-old from El Monte had provided a false name and identification during a traffic stop the night before in Sunriver. The officers discovered the false name after the stop ended and conducted an investigation to determine his real identity.
CODE detectives are utilized because of their ability to locate fugitives, conduct covert surveillance and investigations in various environments. Also, it was believed that the suspect may have been in possession of controlled substances and a firearm.
After his true identity was discovered, two nationwide arrest warrants were also found. The first warrant from Los Angeles County was for a parole/probation fugitive, and the second warrant, from Kern County (CA), was for possession of dangerous drugs.
During the afternoon of March 20th, 2023, CODE detectives located the suspect and his vehicle. After several hours of surveillance, he began driving and was stopped by DCSO deputies, who conducted a high-risk stop and arrested him without incident.
A female passenger was also contacted and was later released without charges.
During the search of the suspect’s car, CODE detectives located a significant amount of stolen mail. The recovered mail included newly issued credit cards, identification cards, checks, and parcels from retailers. Additionally, a user amount of methamphetamine was also located.
During the investigation, it was determined that the suspect was visiting a family member on the 52000 block of Meadow Rd in La Pine. It appears that he began stealing mail from Weed, California, through and including the neighbors of his relative on Meadow Rd.
In the end, detectives collected three garbage bags of mail inside his car. This recovered mail was delivered to the Postal Inspectors Office in Portland. They are in the process of repackaging and redelivering the mail to the rightful recipients.
