Photo: Christopher Wilson
Ventura County – If there were open opportunities for a “professional ID thief” on the various online employment rosters, surely 40-year-old Camarillo resident Christopher Wilson would be a solid candidate.
According to Ventura County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Detective B. Hollowell, the plain clothes detectives attached to the Camarillo Police Department Special Enforcement Detail (SED) had been investigating “burglary and identity theft crimes” in which Wilson had been identified as the principal suspect responsible for auto burglaries perpetrated in November, 2019.
Wilson, currently on probation for “drug and theft-related charges,” was positively identified through video recordings provided by various Camarillo businesses where multiple fraudulent credit card transactions had taken place. With the identification of their suspect in hand, Ventura County Sheriff’s Department detectives began their search for Wilson in earnest.
Three weeks later, on December 19th, SED detectives tracked Wilson down to a motel in Bakersfield. Surveillance made note of the fact that he “was wearing some of the same clothing as seen in the video” recordings at the time when he made fraudulent use of stolen credit cards.
Detectives made contact with Wilson, and pursuant to a probation search of his motel room, they discovered a full-scale ongoing identity theft operation that included “several color printers, credit cards not belonging to Wilson, blank checks, numerous pre-paid gift cards, and multiple California Driver licenses.” He was also in possession of multiple DMV registration stickers, fake license plates, and a quantity of fentanyl indicating active sales of illegal drugs.
Wilson was taken into custody and transported to Ventura County Jail, where he was booked on multiple charges of vehicle burglary, identity theft, felony identity theft with a prior conviction, and fraudulent use of a credit card. He remains in custody with his bail set at $60,000.
Photo: Courtesy Ventura County Jail.
