OFFICIALS ARREST VALENCIA FUGITIVE IN N.Y.Byline: Laurence Darmiento Daily News Staff Writer The former manager of a Newhall sporting goods Noun 1. sporting goods - sports equipment sold as a commodity commodity, trade good, good - articles of commerce sports equipment - equipment needed to participate in a particular sport store who jumped bail two years ago while facing fraud charges was in custody Tuesday after his arrest in New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. , where he had a new identity and was working as an executive, authorities said. Robert Paul
Robert Paul Mehall, 27, of Valencia was arrested Monday morning by a fugitive task force operated by the FBI and New York City police. Local sheriff's detectives had been tracking Mehall since 1994. "We were not going to give up until we found him. We were trying to get him for two years," said Detective Chris Christopher of the Santa Clarita Valley The Santa Clarita Valley is the valley of the Santa Clara River in Southern California. It stretches through Los Angeles County and Ventura County. Its main population center is the city of Santa Clarita. The valley was part of the 48,612-acre (19,672. sheriff's station. Mehall jumped bail while free on $100,000 bond. He disappeared before a scheduled preliminary hearing in Newhall Municipal Court on credit card fraud Credit card fraud is a wide-ranging term for theft and fraud committed using a credit card or any similar payment mechanism as a fraudulent source of funds in a transaction. The purpose may be to obtain goods without paying, or to obtain unauthorized funds from an account. charges, Christopher said. Mehall and a second defendant were accused of encoding magnetic cards with credit card numbers, and using the cards to make purchases in the San Fernando San Fernando, city, Argentina San Fernando (săn fərnăn`dō), city (1991 pop. 144,761), Buenos Aires prov., E Argentina. It is a district administrative center in the Greater Buenos Aires area. and Santa Clarita valleys, he said. At the time of his disappearance, Mehall was on probation for grand theft. He had been convicted of stealing nearly $200,000 in cash and goods while working as the manager of Billy's Ski & Surf in the early 1990s, Christopher said. Mehall had a new identity, and was working in an executive level position when he was arrested, Christopher said. The detective refused to be more specific, but Cy Amiten, the owner of Billy's, said he had been told his former employee was an executive recruiter and had earned perhaps $200,000 last year. "The sad part about it is he was one of the best storekeepers we ever had," Amiten said. "Whatever he did, he did well. This kid could have been successful in business. He had a lot of get up and go." "He was a damn good thief. It was a hell of a thing to have to accept," Amiten said. Mehall stole the money and goods while given the run of the store in the early 1990s while Amiten's son Billy was ill. Billy later died of cancer, Christopher said. Sheriff's detectives were alerted to the thefts by a tip from a former employee, Christopher said. Mehall has told New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of authorities he does not plan to fight extradition back to California, where he faces the fraud charges and possibly new charges for jumping bail. Christopher said he also could be incarcerated incarcerated /in·car·cer·at·ed/ (in-kahr´ser-at?ed) imprisoned; constricted; subjected to incarceration. in·car·cer·at·ed adj. Confined or trapped, as a hernia. on the sporting goods store grand theft, since he violated his probation by fleeing the area. |
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