Security guard charged in theft of baseball memorabilia www.privateofficer.com
Santa Barbara County CA June 15 2012 A security guard is accused of stealing Robin Ventura baseball memorabilia early this morning from a display case at Lakeview Junior High School in Orcutt, according to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department.
Cameron James Taylor, 21, of Santa Maria, has been booked into Santa Barbara County Jail on suspicion of felony burglary and petty theft.
Deputies responded to the school on Lakeview Road shortly after midnight after an alarm went off in the school’s gym.
The deputies found that a display case had been broken into that contained several items of baseball memorabilia signed by Santa Maria native Robin Ventura, manager of the Chicago White Sox and a former major league baseball player.
Some of the memorabilia had been discarded in a nearby trash can.
As the deputies searched the school grounds, they were reportedly approached by Taylor in his security guard uniform. When he was asked for his identification, Taylor walked with deputies to his car. As he bent over to reach into the car, deputies spotted a baseball in his jacket packet, according to sheriff’s officials.
The baseball featured Ventura’s autograph, and deputies also reportedly found a piece of the broken display case lock in Taylor’s pocket.
Taylor, who had been assigned to guard the school grounds overnight leading up to today’s eighth grade graduation ceremony, was arrested.
He works for Overland Security Services.
