An unfortunate turn of events on Tuesday started with a man being caught with his pants down and ended with identity theft charges. According to police, a man was observed urinating near a bridge at the intersection of Bouquet Canyon Road and Valencia Boulevard in Santa Clarita. Deputies conducted a patrol check which included a search of the man’s belongings. In the process, they discovered several credit cards and identification cards that did not belong to him. The deputies then arrested the 43-year-old suspect under suspicion of identity theft.

One of the fastest growing crimes in the US, Identity Theft is covered under California Penal Code 530.5 PC and is described as taking another person’s identifying information and using it in a fraudulent or unlawful manner. California’s definition of Identity Theft, as stated, is pretty broad. Typically, though, there are 4 main situations in which the law typically comes into play:

  • When someone willfully obtains another person’s identifying information and uses it for anything illegal without the consent of the person
  • Acquiring or retaining a person’s personal identifying information, without their consent, and intending to use it for fraud
  • Selling or providing someone’s personal identifying information to another person, without the original person’s consent and
  • selling, transferring, or providing someone’s personal identifying information to another individual while knowing full-well that the individual intends to use that information unlawfully

Another person’s personal identifying information can mean a lot of things including their name, address, birth date, phone number, social security and/or tax ID numbers, bank info, birth certificate info, school IDs … basically, any kind of personal information that refers to a specific person that isn’t you.

PC 530.5 is a “wobbler,” which can be charged as a misdemeanor or a felony depending on the circumstances surrounding the crime and the defendant’s prior criminal history. If charged as a misdemeanor, the penalties include up to 1-year in county jail and a maximum fine of $1,000. Felony charges carry the possible penalties of 16-months to 3-years in county jail and a maximum fine of $10,000.

Interestingly, identity theft charges are not limited to the number of identities a defendant allegedly stole, but to how many times a defendant allegedly used that identity fraudulently. For example, if person A stole person B’s personal identifying information and used it 6 times, person A could be facing 6 charges of identity theft, even though he only stole 1 person’s identity.

Robin Sandoval

Robin Sandoval

Robin Sandoval is a California Licensed Bail Bondsman and owner of SCV Bail Bonds. Robin writes blogs and articles to help increase community awareness of the bail industry. If you have questions or want to suggest a topic, email robin@scvbailbonds.com, visit www.scvbailbonds.com or call 661-299-2245.
Robin Sandoval
Robin Sandoval
Robin Sandoval

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