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Los Alamos mail theft victim sets trap, catches thieves

August 20, 2024

By KAREN VELIE

Two people are in a Santa Barbara County Jail after a mail theft victim in Los Alamos set a trap that led to their Aug. 19 arrests.

After discovering items missing from her box at the Los Alamos Post Office, the woman mailed herself a package that included a tracking device. The woman then tracked the package leaving the post office shortly after 7 a.m. on Monday.

After the victim reported the theft and the thieves location, deputies located two suspects and the woman’s missing mail in the 600 block of E. Sunrise Drive in Santa Maria.

Officers arrested 27-year-old Virginia Franchessca Lara of Santa Maria and 37-year-old Donald Ashton Terry of Riverside and booked them in the Northern Branch Jail.

Lara is charged with possession of checks with intent to commit fraud, fictitious checks, identity theft, credit card theft and conspiracy. She is being held on $50,000 bail.

Terry is charged with burglary, possession of checks with intent to commit fraud, credit card theft, identity theft, and conspiracy. He was also booked on several theft related warrants from Riverside County. He is being held on $460,000 bail.

“The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office would like to commend the victim for her proactive solution, while highlighting that she also exercised appropriate caution by contacting law enforcement to safely and successfully apprehend the suspects,” according to a press release. “Deputies are continuing work on this case including contacting additional victims.”

 


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Anyone remember that Visalia couple who put out a decoy and ambushed a bicycle thief?


3

Reminds me of the person who put a box of bricks on theiir porch for porch pirates.


10

make her a paid consultant like in catch me if you can.


15

That’s a Federal no-no. Hopefully they get federal charges so they get more than a slap on the wrist.


45

Bravo! I was living in Fresno and I had a security system and I recorded them stealing the cameras. Apparently they didn’t know the recording device was inside. I replaced the cameras higher on the roof and one of them was trained on my Locking Mail box. I recorded a couple (male and female) snooping around but moving on to apparently breaking into every mail box on our block except ours. On the ground in front of my car was a baggie with 2 empty Methadone bottles with the name and address of a couple. I called the police and told them I believed that we had the name and address of the people that broke into the mail boxes right here. and they looked at the bottles and said there was no proof that the baggy belonged to the same couple that stole all of the mail. I was angry. I said “2 people on camera at 3:00 a.m. 2 People breaking in to mail boxes. 2 people on medication bottles dropped in the street just feet away from the mail boxes.” One of the cops said it could just be a coincidence and wrote his name and e-mail down “in case I saw something suspicious”. I told him I don’t know why I wouldn’t do that myself. He just stared at me. I told him that “YOU HAVE AN ADDRESS to check out!” “Like I said. Could be a coincidence” they left.


27

Well done and kudos to the victim! Smart, very smart. :o)


35

I want to know how she got a box out of this woman’s PO Box? Inside job?


55

Wow, handed the perps to LEO’s, who promptly did their thing and put the perps away. Great work all around!


51