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The tangled tale of the stolen camera

It is a tangled web that crime can sometimes weave.

At some point between Nov. 30 and Dec. 1, thieves broke into a storage shed behind an inn and spa facility in the 300 block of First Street East. Taken was a Canon 5D Mark II camera, with lens, in a Lowe Pro bag, with a SanDisk memory card in an inside pocket. Also taken was a bicycle and a diamond ring. A police report was filed and an investigation was begun.

Two weeks later, on Jan 13, police paid an afternoon visit to a home in the 20800 block of Broadway to conduct a probation search. There they found a Canon camera and lens, and they asked the probationer where it came from. He was buying it from a man, he said, for $500, and had so far paid $250.

The body of a Canon 5D Mark II normally sells for between $1,500 and $2,000.

Asked what he would think if he discovered the camera was stolen, the probationer replied, “It wouldn’t surprise me.”

The investigating officer left the probationer’s house, learned that the camera stolen from the inn and spa had been in a blue Lowe Pro bag, with a SanDisk card in a pocket, and then returned to the probationer’s house to question him further. Asked if a blue bag came with the camera, the probationer produced a blue Lowe Pro bag and there, in an inside pocket, was a Sand Disc memory card.

The officer relieved the probationer of the camera and bag, notified the probable owner, who came to the police station and positively identified the stolen items, which were then returned.

Armed with a name and description of the man who allegedly sold the probationer the camera, police then proceeded to search for suspected thief.

In other incidents reported to local law enforcement:

Friday, Jan. 11:

8:43 a.m. – Telltale ring on floor. A resident in the 400 block of York Court told police that she left her home the previous morning, returned that evening and went upstairs where she stepped on a ring. She then found drawers open and various items of jewelry missing, although several valuable pieces were left behind. Of most concern to the owner was her mother’s 50th anniversary diamond ring, worth $5,000. All told, at least, $6,000 worth of jewelry was reported missing

5:27 p.m. – Preparing, without paying, for a date. A 57-year-old man walked into Sonoma Market with a backpack, walked around the store placing various items in the pack, and then walked matter-of-factly out the door. Followed and detained by the ever-present store security guard, the suspect gave back two 32-ounce cans of Pabst beer, a $60 bottle of Double Eagle Napa red wine, some lemon juice, a T-bone steak and a Nature’s Essence candle.

The suspect explained his girlfriend was coming over, he had somehow “made a mistake” about paying for the items, but had only $3 in his wallet.

Value of the items totaled $114.06. The suspect, doomed to disappoint his girlfriend, was charged with petty theft.

Wednesday, Jan. 19.

10:15 a.m. – Quick turn around. A resident in the 19000 block of Linden Street, who had just been placed on probation the day before, apparently did not expect visitors when there was a knock on his door at mid-morning. When he opened it, he was greeted by Sheriff’s deputies, there to conduct a probation search.

Twenty-nine-year-old Andrew Ostram was soon out of luck and on his way back to jail. During the search, the deputies found methamphetamine, marijuana and syringes – and Ostram was apparently under the influence.

He was arrested on charges of felony possession of a controlled substance, possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, being under the influence of a controlled substance and a felony probation violation. A 36-year-old female was arrested for being under the influence of a controlled substance.

Thursday, Jan. 10:

10:15 a.m. – Get stoned together, get jailed together. When deputies went to a residence in the 100 block of Siesta Way to conduct another probation search, they found the suspect and his girlfriend, both on searchable probation, both were in an altered state. The 40-year-old man and his 25-year-old girlfriend were arrested on charges of being under the influence of a controlled substance and a probation violation.

12:15 p.m. – Pretty soon, that’s real money. A resident in the 12000 block of Adine Court reported numerous items missing from her residence. A month earlier, the woman’s husband had been in the hospital and their homeless son stayed at the house. Over the month, the woman noticed more and more items came up missing, until the list of missing items totaled some $25,000 in value.

Friday, Jan. 11:

3 p.m. – A really, really bad check. A Los Angeles man was arrested on numerous charges after he tried to cash a faux check at a business in the 17000 block of Highway 12. The man tried to cash a $472 check from an out-of-the-area business on an account that had been closed, and the name on the check didn’t match the suspect’s name. David Christian, 26, of Los Angeles, was arrested on charges of felony burglary, felony forgery, giving false identification to a police officer and knowingly trying to pass a check with insufficient funds, also a felony.

11 p.m. – But he escaped a DUI. While on patrol, a deputy spotted a man riding his bicycle, not too steadily and without a light, in the vicinity of Calle del Monte and Highway 12. The 42-year-old Boyes resident was on probation with a no-alcohol clause and, since he blew a .18 on the breathalizer, he was arrested on charges of public intoxication and a probation violation.