On October 18, 2023, deputies contacted and arrested Marcus Ortiz for burglarizing a local church, where he stole a credit card belonging to the church and made numerous fraudulent cash withdrawals.
On the morning of October 18, 2023, church hosts arrived at a local church located in the 1400 block of Bardsdale Avenue and discovered their place of worship had been broken into and burglarized by an unknown suspect(s) during the night.
Patrol deputies and detectives assigned to the Santa Clara Valley/Fillmore Police Station responded to the crime scene and began an investigation. The investigation revealed the suspect had entered the church and forced entry into one of the locked interior rooms where a small locked safe was stolen. The safe contained a credit card belonging to the church.
Further investigation revealed the suspect then used the credit card belonging to the church to make unauthorized ATM withdrawals at several locations throughout the cities of Fillmore, Santa Paula, and Ventura. The suspect was quickly identified as Marcus Ortiz, a local Fillmore probationer. Utilizing several investigative techniques, and with the assistance of Sheriff’s Communication Center-Advanced Real Time Information Center (ARTIC) dispatchers, Ortiz was located at the Pacific View Mall in the City of Ventura.
On October 18, 2023, at approximately 2:00 PM, detectives located Ortiz at the mall, and he was arrested without incident. Ortiz was in possession of evidence linking him to the church burglary and identity thefts. In addition, Ortiz was in possession of an illegal / concealed billy club. Ortiz was subsequently booked at the Pre-Trial Detention Facility for burglary, three counts of identity theft and possession of an illegal weapon. Ortiz remains in custody with his bail set at $50,000.
Anyone with information pertaining to this crime or any other is urged to contact the detectives listed below. The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office and Fillmore Police Department are committed to increasing and strengthening community partnerships and utilizing technologies and evidence-based practices to enhance collaborative efforts at reducing crime and improving public safety of all residents by continued community partnerships. Join us in the fight on crime by following us on Twitter @VENTURASHERIFF, Facebook, Instagram @ VCSHERIFF, and with Nixle by texting your zip code to 888777 to receive local law enforcement and public safety alerts and advisories.
The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank members of the public for their on-going support and due diligence in providing information to assist our agency in solving crimes. We are better at what we do because of our community partnerships.
