SBSO: SP man arrested by SPPD also
charged with string of Goleta thefts
August 05, 2015
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula News
The Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Office has filed a criminal complaint against a Santa Paula man — released from jail in 2013 due to the prison realignment law — for suspicion of grand theft and other related charges.
Santa Paula Police initially arrested William Carroll, 48, July 12 when SPPD Gang Unit investigators were conducting enforcement activity.
The unit came upon Carroll and Robert Cantero, 19, of Fillmore, a documented Santa Paula gang member wanted on warrants as well as two juvenile girls sitting in a vehicle parked in a carport on South Steckel Drive.
Cantero was arrested for the outstanding warrants but officers found that the vehicle had been reported stolen from Santa Barbara County and Carroll was taken into custody for suspicion of vehicle theft. Officers also found property believed to be stolen in the vehicle and drug paraphernalia leading to more charges against Carroll.
The two juvenile girls were released to their parents; one was found to be have been reported as missing. Both juvenile females were issued citations for being an incorrigible minor.
In Santa Barbara County Carroll has been charged with stealing items from seven unlocked vehicles in a Goleta neighborhood on July 6.
Carroll allegedly drove back to Santa Paula after finding the keys to one of the unlocked vehicles he had entered.
Authorities said the property that was stolen in Goleta was worth more than $2,000.
In May 2013 Carroll was arrested by Oxnard Police on suspicion of stealing property from unlocked vehicles when he was detained when found with credit cards, electronics and other personal property taken from unlocked vehicles in a specific neighborhood.
At that time Carroll was arrested for suspicion of possession of stolen property, being under the influence of a controlled substance and post-release offender violation.
The post-release offender violation is related to nonviolent, nonsexual and nonserious offenders freed from prison under Assembly Bill 109, the so-called prison realignment bill. The bill resulted from the Supreme Court’s determination that state prisons were grossly overcrowded and their populations must be reduced.
Law enforcement considers burglaries of unlocked vehicles to be crimes of opportunity and urges citizens to always keep their vehicles locked and free of valuables such as wallets, computers and other electronic devices.
