VENTURA : Ex-Guard Pleads Not Guilty to Car Theft

A former security guard at the County Government Center in Ventura has pleaded not guilty to a charge of felony auto theft after he was accused of helping himself to county-owned pool cars.

Armando Vieyra, 22, of Ventura was arrested Monday after district attorney’s office investigators searched his residence and found keys to county-owned vehicles, said Vinse Gilliam, acting chief investigator.

Vieyra pleaded not guilty Tuesday, and his case was continued to Jan. 28.

He is believed to have illegally taken a pool car on more than 20 occasions, mostly on weekends, Gilliam said. He drove a county-owned car 300 miles one weekend, the chief investigator said.

Vieyra’s arrest stems from an investigation that began in August when a county employee thought he saw a pool car being driven in Ventura on the weekend, Gilliam said. It was unusual, he said, for that particular car--an unmarked, maroon Pontiac with county license plates--to be used on weekends.

Further checking showed that the car had not been signed out and that there was a discrepancy in the odometer reading. A surveillance, set up to observe the pool cars, was unsuccessful, Gilliam said.

In November, a security guard at the government center saw Vieyra returning a car to the county fleet, Gilliam said. Since then, investigators have been trying to find out to what extent Vieyra used the cars.

Vieyra, now unemployed, had worked as a Pinkerton security guard assigned to the government center, where the pool cars are kept on evenings and weekends. He was terminated in August for reasons unrelated to the cars, Gilliam said. During his employment he had access to vehicle keys, and Gilliam said he told investigators that he had taken a number of keys, which were found in his truck.