Bay Area Man Accused Of Identity Theft, Police Search For Victims

AMERICAN CANYON, CA — Authorities are seeking out potential identity theft victims in the Bay Area after a man was arrested on suspicion of stealing personal information Monday.

American Canyon resident Leroy Maestas, 40, was arrested on suspicion of identity theft, along with a slew of other misdemeanor counts, the American Canyon Police Department said in a statement.

Officers said they observed Maestas on Monday attempting to break into a vehicle with a clothing hanger as a methamphetamine pipe stuck out of his pocket, the department reported.

When an officer made contact with him, "it became apparent" that he was under the influence of a controlled substance, police wrote in a statement.

"The officer's suspicions were confirmed when a pipe, commonly used to ingest methamphetamine, was peeking out of Maestas’ pants pocket," officers wrote.

After he was detained, officers searched the vehicle that he appeared to be trying to break into. Officers found that the vehicle was registered to Maestas, but the contests inside his vehicles were illegal and some items did not belong to him, police said.

During a vehicle search, police officers said they found illicit drug paraphernalia, brass knuckles, a device uses to remove security sensors at retail stores and personal identifying information. Mail, driver's licenses, debit cards and bank information belonging to more than 10 different Bay Area residents were recovered.

Maestas was booked into the Napa County jail with a $25,000 bail, he was cited and released by the jail at approximately 8:30 p.m.

He arrested on suspicion of the following crimes: felony identity theft; being under the influence of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of brass knuckles and possession of burglary tools.