Law Officer Is Arrested in Burglary

Caught on videotape allegedly taking cash from a community police storefront, a Ventura County sheriff’s deputy was arrested Tuesday morning on suspicion of burglary, authorities said.

Sheriff’s officials, who had installed a hidden camera in the tiny storefront, watched on a surveillance system as Deputy Paul Tinoco took about $10 from a cash drawer behind the counter and put it in his pocket, Capt. Keith Parks said.

Waiting outside, deputies arrested their fellow officer, Parks said.

The arrest capped a two-week internal investigation into missing money at the Oak View Resource Center, a community policing office tucked between a dry cleaner’s, doughnut shop and coffeehouse off California 33.

Tinoco, 28, is suspected of taking less than $100 from the center over the past few weeks. The money had been collected from fingerprinting fees and other services performed by center volunteers.

The four-year department veteran, who lives in Oxnard, was booked on suspicion of burglary at Ventura County Jail and later released. He is to be arraigned June 23. An administrative review is underway, and Tinoco, whose annual base salary is $40,871, could be fired as a result, Parks said. “Basically, he walked in the building, reached in the cash drawer, put it in his pocket and walked away,” Parks said, adding that Tinoco was alone in the office.

“It’s not a lot of money,” Parks said. “But it’s obviously an issue of trust.”

The deputy’s arrest surprised neighboring downtown business owners in this unincorporated Ojai Valley community of 5,000.

“We trust everyone in Oak View,” said Pam McCay, who owns the Java 33 coffeehouse next door. “But we can’t trust the police?”

Jane Sandefur, a nearby clothing designer, expressed similar surprise.

“Why?” she said. “To risk everything for a small amount of money, to risk his job and reputation, why?”

Sheriff’s officials first noticed money was missing from the center about two weeks ago, Parks said. The department collects fees for various services performed there, including fingerprinting people applying for real estate licenses or other legal documents, he said.

For the most part, the 20 center volunteers help residents process complaints about neighborhood disturbances, get in touch with patrol officers, and hold such community events as blood-pressure clinics. Ojai Valley patrol deputies use the two desks and computer to write reports.

“The beauty of a resource center is that it is a drop-in center for police to come in and do a little work,” Parks said. “And it provides a visible presence.”

But Tinoco’s supervisors recently noticed the monthly fees collected were less than the total raised from fingerprinting and other services, Parks said. Because there had been no forced entry into the storefront, investigators figured one of the volunteers or a deputy was stealing money.

Deputies installed a hidden camera and said they filmed Tinoco taking money at least once before Tuesday. He was arrested about 9 a.m., an hour before the center opened. Tinoco was on duty, Parks said.

“What you have to realize is that this is a burglary,” Parks said. “If you enter a structure with intent to steal, it’s a felony, it’s a burglary.”

A burglary conviction carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison, prosecutors said.

The burglary accusation comes as Bob Brooks, the new county sheriff set to take office later this month, has announced his intention to review the department’s hiring and promotion policies. Brooks, who was unavailable for comment, said one of the review’s aims would be to prevent police wrongdoing.

“You could say we were very much surprised when we saw it was a deputy,” Parks said.