Fillmore man arrested Wednesday afternoon in connection to church burglary and identity theft

VENTURA COUNTY, Calif. – Deputies with the Ventura County Sheriff's Office arrested a 22-year-old Fillmore resident on Wednesday in connection with a burglary at a Ventura County church.

On the morning of Oct. 18, 2023, members of a church in the 1400 block of Barksdale Avenue discovered that their church had been burglarized the night before relay Ventura County Sheriff's Office.

After an investigation by detectives assigned to the Santa Clara Valley and Fillmore Police Station, it appeared the burglar had entered the church and forced entry into a locked interior room where a small safe was stolen which housed a credit card that belonged to the church detail Ventura County Sheriff's Office.

Further investigation revealed that that church credit card had been used to make unauthorized ATM withdrawals at several locations in Fillmore, Santa Paula, and Ventura and those withdrawals led to the identification of a Fillmore probationer relay Ventura County Sheriff's Office.

According to Ventura County Sheriff's Office, law enforcement used several investigative techniques as well as assistance from the Ventura County Sheriff's Communication Center-Advanced Real Time Information Center dispatchers to locate the Fillmore man at the Pacific View Mall in Ventura.

On Oct. 18, around 2 p.m., detectives located and arrested the man without incident and he was found to be in possession of evidence linking him to the church burglary, identity thefts, and he was found to be in possession of an illegal/concealed billy club detail Ventura County Sheriff's Office.

The man was booked into the Pre-Trial Detention Facility for burglary, three counts of identity theft, and possession of an illegal weapon where he remains in custody on a $50,000 bail relay Ventura County Sheriff's Office.