Photo: Stock Image
Those who are of criminal bent and have never heard George Jones and Tammy Wynette’s lyrics to “God’s Gonna Get’cha” or for whom the Wrath of God is just a rumor taught in Sunday Schools across the vast landscape of the religious faithful may have no compunctions about where they conduct their criminal activity.
That appears to have been the case leading up to the October 18th arrest of 22-year-old Fillmore resident Marcus Ortiz.
According to Ventura County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Det. Sgt. Will Hollowell, Ortiz became the focus of an investigation into the burglary of a Fillmore neighborhood church when parish hosts entered the facility on the morning of the 18 th to discover that “their place of worship had been broken into and burglarized by an unknown suspect during the night.” The crime was promptly reported to the Santa Clara Valley/Fillmore Police Station. The cops showed up and soon discovered that the suspect had “forced entry” into locked rooms and had pilfered the contents of a “small locked safe,” removing a credit card and other items.
It didn’t take long for detectives to learn that the credit card had been used to make “unauthorized ATM withdrawals at several locations” throughout the county. ATM records and video surveillance revealed Ortiz—known to the local cops as a probationer—as the culprit. Within hours, with the assistance of “Sheriff’s Communication Center Advanced Real Time Information Center dispatchers,” Ortiz’s location at a shopping mall in the City of Ventura was determined.
That same afternoon, detectives swarmed into the mall, made contact with Ortiz, and took him into custody. He was then transported to Ventura County Jail, where he was booked on charges of burglary, identity theft, and possession of an illegal weapon. Heremains in custody with his bail set at $50,000.
