On Monday, February 5th, Arlene Villa of Orange Cove, age 43, was sentenced on felony charges of second degree burglary in violation of Penal Code section 459. The jury trial was held on January 8th 2007, where the defendant was found guilty of the charges. Villa was sentenced in Tulare County Court, Visalia Division, Department 12, by the Honorable Ronn Couillard. She was sentenced to 5 years in state prison and was ordered to pay restitution fines and restitution to the victim. This case was investigated by the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office, Agricultural Crimes Unit, and the Tulare County District Attorney’s Office Rural Crimes Unit. Ian Marty of the Tulare County District Attorney’s Office Agricultural Crimes Unit was the prosecutor on this case.

The case arose when a deputy from the Tulare County Sheriff’s department was dispatched to a suspicious vehicle at a packing house in Reedley around 1:00 am. Upon arrival, the deputy located the vehicle parked behind the business and observed the defendant sitting in her vehicle talking on a cell phone. The defendant’s vehicle was a pickup truck, which was backed up to one of the exit doors of the packing house. In addition, the tailgate of the pickup was down. Finding this suspicious the deputy contacted the defendant, then went to check the building perimeter. Upon going around the side of the building, the deputy noticed a metal folding chair underneath an open window. The packing house owner was contacted and opened the facility so it could be searched for possible other individuals. Upon entering the packing house, deputies located office supplies, computers and cases of soda stacked directly in front of an exit door. The exit door where the items were stacked was the same door the defendant had her pickup truck backed up to. The open window where the folding chair had been found outside, belonged to the women’s restroom. In the restroom by a pool of water deputies located muddy shoe tracks. Upon re-contacting the defendant, the deputy noticed that the soles of her boots matched the tracks that were located inside in the women’s restroom. The defendant was subsequently arrested and charged with commercial burglary.

Both the Sheriff’s Department Ag Crime Unit and the District Attorney’s Ag Crime Unit operate through the State funded Rural Crime Prevention Program administered by the Office of the Tulare County District Attorney. The Rural Crime Prevention program was developed by District Attorney Phil Cline to stop and prevent agricultural crime.

For more information on protecting agricultural operations contact the Rural Crime Prevention Unit at (559) 624-1054, the ACTION Project at (559) 624-1054 or the Sheriff’s Ag Crime Unit at (559) 740-4300. Information can be obtained on line at www.agcrime.net