October 17, a Ventura County church suffered a burglary, leading to the apprehension of the alleged offender, 22-year-old Marcus Ortiz, himself a Fillmore resident. Ortiz was arrested by the Ventura County Sheriff's Office and Fillmore Police on October 18.
The Ventura County Sheriff's Office, upon responding, found that a locked room inside the church had been broken into, to take a small safe containing a church-owned credit card. Ortiz, authorities have determined, subsequently used this credit card to make unauthorized ATM withdrawals in Fillmore, Santa Paula, and Ventura as noted in the official report.
Utilizing a variety of investigative techniques, the Sheriff's Communication Center-Advanced Real Time Information Center (ARTIC) tracked down Ortiz to the Pacific View Mall in Ventura City. There he was arrested without incident. Ortiz was found in possession of a concealed billy club and other evidence linking him to the burglary. Now facing charges including burglary, three counts of identity theft, and possession of an illegal weapon, Ortiz's bail currently set at $50,000.
