Edhat Staff
Photo: SBSO
By edhat staff
A Hope Ranch package thief caught on surveillance camera was arrested and identified as a 22-year-old Pismo Beach woman.
An edhat reader sent in a video from their Ring security system on August 12 showing a UPS driver dropping off packages at his gate on Via Rosita. A little over an hour later a dark-colored sedan is seen pulling into the driveway where a blonde woman jumps out, grabs a package valued at $2,000, and drives off.
Two days after edhat posting this article, a California Highway Patrol officer arrested Stephanie Small on August 17 in the Hope Ranch area when he observed a vehicle matching the description of the suspect vehicle in the camera footage.
The officer initiated a traffic stop and through the course of the investigation located stolen property from Via Rosita in Small’s vehicle. In addition, Small was in possession of burglary tools, personal identifying information typically used in identity theft, stolen mail from Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles and Orange Counties, stolen checks and account numbers, states the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office.
Small was arrested and booked into Santa Barbara County Jail for possession of stolen property, identity theft, mail theft and possession of burglary tools. The stolen property from Via Rosita was returned to the owner.
The California Highway Patrol has taken the lead on the investigation into the depths of Small’s crimes and is contacting additional victims throughout the state. Their investigation is ongoing, reports the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Office.
Currently, Stephanie Small is out on Bail, and due in Santa Barbara Superior Court on September 18, 2019.
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August 15, 2019 – Hope Ranch Thief Caught on Camera
Out on bail. What happens when she becomes a no-show?
Did they confiscate the car? Seems like it was a burglary tool.
bail must have been set to low
Out on bail? What if she’s a no show? Then an arrest warrant issues. Not a problem, we have lots of dummies and crooks on the loose.
Perhaps she took her last name Small too literally in the wardrobe department?
Great catch CHP! So she tossed away her entire life for a few packages of unknown goods. I wonder how many pairs of socks and other random / useless stuff she got in her looting? Somewhere there is a 14 year old boy missing his shorts…
It would save taxpayers a lot of money if people like her, (caught on camera and with all those items in her possession, where there is no doubt) went straight to jail and served their time.
You beat me to it! I shall call her the Pantless Bandit.
She looks alot older than 22.
No idea her back-story, but she looks older because of her “dead” eyes. Her body is alive, her soul–for lack of a better word–isn’t. How is it that in spite of all sorts of adversity, some people’s spirits stay alive and even with every advantages, some people’s don’t? From reading what you write, I bet looking in your eyes reveals a lively, young spirit regardless of the rest of you.
Given all the stuff she even had with her and that she’s done this in so many different places, the bail should’ve be prohibitive. IMHO, she’ll just start over probably in a different state. Because the weather’s OK, maybe Oregon, Washington or Hawaii.
If she had stolen mail why isn’t this a Federal crime? I trust the Feds to giver her the punishment she deserves rather than the softies in Santa Barbara.
Sounds like she had a route. I wonder if there is a management level running a number of people and acting as purchasing agents/distribution center/legal backup & bail.
Absolutely not. Abandoning “innocent until proven guilty”, no matter the circumstance, is a slippery slope to a police state.
That’s what Hitler said.
I don’t care HOW much money taxpayers would save… we must NEVER abandon the Innocent Until Proven Guilty law of our land. It protects all of us, even if it doesn’t feel like it in cases like this. Wait until it’s your kid or you… and you are innocent! It happens.
Actually the Hitler reference is not proof per se of Goodwin’s law which says a reference to Hitler will be made as an online conversation progresses longer. The inference being that a Hitler reference is just a bit of laziness or off subject thinking. Sometimes the subject of the comment is a fascist proposal that was supported by Hitler (shorthand for authoritarian governments) and referencing him is a tight way to make the point. Actually in this case it could have been Stalin or Pol Pot as well. So my previous four word comment seems fine to me.