Police Arrest Moorpark Mail Theft Suspect

 Ventura County Sheriff's detectives from the Moorpark Police Department have arrested a woman they believe broke into and stole contents from a mailbox two months ago.

Because the theft, which took place April 12, occurred so close to the federal income tax filing deadline, police believed the missing mail could contain a significant amount of personal information and issued a press release asking members of the public who used the box, located in the parking lot of the Moorpark Post Office, to review their bank accounts for signs of fraud or identity theft.

Seeing the announcement, a Moorpark resident checked his account and discovered his bank account had been compromised, the department said in a statement issued Monday. During the investigation, additional victims who used the same mailbox were identified.

Detectives identified Rebekah Ramirez, a 27-year-old transient, as the suspect who sole from the box and used information obtained from mail in the additional cases, the statement said.

On June 6, with the help of Camarillo deputies, Moorpark detectives located Ramirez in Camarillo and arrested her on suspicion of burglary and forgery.

Ramirez was booked at the Ventura County Pre-Trial Detention Facility and her bail was set at $20,000, according to the police statement. 

In the statement, officials reminded residents to use the mail drop boxes inside the postal facilities whenever possible. Also, it said, citizens should continually monitor their financial accounts and credit reports for unauthorized activity and report suspicious activity immediately to local law enforcement agencies.