SONOMA – It looked like Ryan Mahoney was on a major jewelry shopping spree in January, as his credit card was used to buy three gold bracelets worth a total of $6,867.00 at three different jewelry stores, and had visited a forth as well. It turned out Mahoney was not the customer after all, but a known identity theft artist name Eric Aguirre Zatarain from Oakland using fraudulent cards with Mahoney’s name.
When the Sonoma police found out about the fraudulent charges, they examined video surveillance from the jewelry stores, and created a digital flyer with the suspect’s picture to release to Bay Area law enforcement. A detective from San Bruno recognized the man as 28-year-old Zatarain, who is on probation for other identity theft crimes.
Zatarain’s booking photo on file and description, including tattoos, matched the description from the Sonoma jewelry stores. A $100,000 warrant was issued for his arrest.
Last night, Thursday at 7:30, an officer in Dublin spotted Zatarain waiting in a car for an unidentified woman was in a jewelry store trying to buy jewelry herself with fraudulent cards. They were arrested and booked into Alameda County Jail. Zatarain was transferred to Sonoma County to face charges of burglary, identity theft, and theft by forged access card.
