Manuel Rosales
VENTURA COUNTY — Today’s hard-working thief has a lot to contend with.
First, and most obviously, there may not always be a cop around when you need one, but they are almost certain to be around when you wish they weren’t.
Secondly, thanks to current technology and the advent of small, affordable cameras capable of recording video almost everywhere we travel, shop, or attend social gatherings, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to do anything without our every movement being recorded for posterity…or for the police to review.
And then, as if that weren’t enough to give one with criminal intent pause, the world of social media makes it possible for any member of the public to become “involved” in the world of crime-fighting.
Those contemporary verities seem to have directly impacted Manuel Rosales, a 62-year-old Oxnard resident who, according to Ventura County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Det. Hollowell, was arrested on February 1st and charged with multiple crimes including use of a stolen credit card and mail theft.
Rosales had been “identified as the prime suspect in a mail theft” that occurred in the first week of January 2016 after a video clip depicting him using a purloined credit card taken in that theft was broadcast via social media.
“A citizen recognized the suspect from the video and provided his name to law enforcement,” Hallowell reported, which “led to the identification and arrest of the suspect.”
Rosales was then contacted by VCSD deputies, arrested, and booked into Ventura County Jail, with his bail set at $50,000.
Photo: Courtesy Ventura County Jail Booking
