Full Notification

Regino Omar Estrada Ramirez, age 25, Ramon Julian Gomez, age 19, and Saulo Solares, age 20, all of Los Angeles, were arrested for multiple offenses stemming from the theft of checks from U.S. Postal Service mail boxes. All three men are members of a Los Angeles area criminal street gang.

On September 1, 2015 at 5:30 a.m., officers from the Santa Barbara Police Department responded to a call of a traffic collision on the 1600 block of Payeras Street. Upon arrival they contacted Ramirez, Gomez, and Solares. Investigation into the circumstances surrounding the traffic collision indicated that Ramirez, while driving with Gomez and Solares as passengers, failed to successfully negotiate a turn and struck a parked car. Investigation further revealed that Ramirez was an unlicensed driver.

Per state law, vehicles driven by unlicensed drivers are subject to mandatory impound. Prior to Ramirez’s car being towed from the scene officers conducted an inventory search and discovered that it contained several checks that appeared to be stolen. A can of spray paint that appeared to have been recently used was also in the car, along with a check fishing device, an improvised piece of equipment consisting of a weighted line with adhesive used by thieves to retrieve mail from mail boxes. The three subjects were searched and Gomez and Solares were found to be in possession of small quantities of methamphetamine. Gomez was also in possession of a second check fishing device, and Solares was also in possession of binoculars.

Investigation revealed the following. In recent weeks Ramirez, Gomez, and Solares have been involved in stealing checks in Los Angeles and Orange Counties. Prior to travelling to Santa Barbara the three went to a hardware store and obtained materials to construct check fishing devices. They then went to Santa Barbara for the purpose visiting Ramirez’s mother who lives on Santa Barbara’s Eastside. Shortly after arrival, in the early morning of September 1, the three committed a vandalism in that area, spray painting gang graffiti. They next drove throughout Santa Barbara, stealing checks from U.S. Postal Service mail boxes until crashing their vehicle and being contacted by police. Over thirty stolen checks, with a value of over $28,000.00, were recovered.

Ramirez was arrested and booked into Santa Barbara County Jail on the following charges with a bail amount of $120,000.00:

• Conspiracy

• Check forgery

• Grand theft

• Vandalism

• Participation in a criminal street gang

• Unlicensed driver

Gomez and Solares were arrested and booked into Santa Barbara County Jail on the following charges with a bail amount of $120,000.00:

• Conspiracy

• Check forgery

• Grand theft

• Vandalism

• Participation in a criminal street gang

• Possession of methamphetamine

Pictured, top to bottom: Ramirez, Gomez, and Solares.