Traffic stop in Villa Park yields three ID theft arrests

An Orange County sheriff’s deputy on patrol in Villa Park on Saturday made a traffic stop that yielded three arrests for suspicion of identity theft, possession of stolen property and other alleged offenses, authorities said.

The stop was made at 1:46 a.m. at Loma and Cannon streets for a vehicle code violation, according to Officer C. Ortiz of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. One man and two women inside the car claimed they were en route from Los Angeles to Pechanga but got lost in Villa Park.

The deputy checked out three people in the car and learned the driver had a suspended license, one was on probation and one had a no-bail felony warrant from Los Angeles, Ortiz said.

Before towing the car, deputies conducting an inventory search discovered “several notebooks containing personal identifying information such as names, Social Security numbers, and bank account numbers for several individuals, and a multitude of personal property belonging to other individuals not in the vehicle,” he said. Methamphetamine and two methamphetamine pipes were also found, Ortiz said.

Orange police officers assisted by going to an address in their city to confirm one resident had been the victim of theft, Ortiz said.

The three were arrested for suspicion of identity theft, possession of stolen property, possession of methamphetamine and possession of paraphernalia, he said. The driver was also accused of driving with a suspended license and failing to stop at a stop sign.