CLEARLAKE, Calif. – A Hidden Valley Lake man was arrested on charges including burglary, theft and possession of stolen property following a Wednesday night traffic stop during which he was found to be in possession of a woman's wallet and debit cards.
Cesar Alejandro Rodriguez, 22, was arrested Wednesday in Clearlake, according to Lt. Steve Brooks of the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
Just before 11 p.m. Wednesday a patrol deputy was traveling southbound on Old Highway 53 in Clearlake when he noticed a vehicle make an illegal U-turn in the intersection of Old Highway 53 and Lakeview Drive and then fail to stop at the posted stop sign at the same intersection, according to Brooks.
The deputy conducted an enforcement stop of the vehicle on Old Highway 53 near Airport Boulevard, Brooks said.
The deputy contacted the driver, who he identified as Rodriguez. Brooks said that Rodriguez explained that he had just left Walmart and was headed to a bank to use the ATM, when he changed his mind and decided to drive home.
Rodriguez denied having anything illegal and gave the deputy permission to search both him and his vehicle, Brooks said.
During the pat down search, the deputy felt what he believed to be a large, thick stack of paper currency which was folded in half inside Rodriguez's right front pocket.
Brooks said that during a search of the vehicle, the deputy located a black backpack on the front passenger’s seat. The backpack contained a women’s wallet which had a driver’s license belonging to a female. The backpack also contained a school binder and items belonging to Rodriguez.
The deputy asked Rodriguez who the wallet belonged to and he said that he had found it, Brooks said. Rodriguez explained that he had started working at Twin Pine Casino in Middletown a couple of weeks ago.
At 1 a.m. Tuesday Rodriguez was cleaning the floors in the bar area of the casino and found the wallet. Rodriguez said he picked up the wallet, placed it into his pocket and continued cleaning the floors, according to Brooks.
Rodriguez told the deputy that he forgot to turn in the wallet and went home after his shift. He went on to say that he was not scheduled to go back to work until Monday, March 31, which was when he intended to turn in the wallet, Brooks said.
Rodriguez denied taking anything out of the wallet but said he did look through it to see what was inside of it. He eventually told the deputy that earlier in the day, he drove to McDonald’s in Clearlake to see of the debit cards were good, Brooks said.
Brooks said Rodriguez admitted to using one of the debit cards to purchase an ice cream cone and it was accepted. He then went to Walmart and purchased additional items using the debit card.
Rodriguez said he drove to a bank in Clearlake to try and use the debit card in an ATM. Using the victim’s year of birth which was on her driver’s license, as well as her pin number which was inside the wallet, he was able to access her account, Brooks reported.
Rodriguez checked the balance of the account and saw it contained $914. Brooks said Rodriguez told the deputy that he withdrew money from three separate transactions totaling $880, and then was unable to remove anymore.
A second deputy arrived to assist and located a debit card with the same victim’s name on the ground approximately 6 feet from where Rodriguez was standing. Rodriguez admitted to tossing the card on the ground as the second deputy arrived, Brooks said.
Rodriguez had $880 in $20 bills. Brooks said the money was located in Rodriguez’s right front pants pocket and left sock. He also had three $100 bills, receipts detailing the use of the ATM cards and the victim’s ATM cards in his wallet. The deputy said Rodriguez had drained the victims account down to $3.43.
Rodriguez was arrested for burglary, possession of stolen property, misappropriation of lost property, theft, using an access card without the card holder’s consent, and destroying or concealing evidence, Brooks said.
Rodriguez was transported to the Lake County Hill Road Correctional Facility and booked early Thursday morning. Bail was set at $15,000, and jail records indicated he later posted bail and was released.
Twin Pine Casino contacted Lake County News to report that Rodriguez did not work for the casino, but for one of its vendor companies.