A records clerk with the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department has been arrested on burglary charges after she allegedly stole $10,000 worth of jewelry from a Goleta home.
Mary Methmann, 45, of Carpinteria, was taken into custody Wednesday, said Sgt. Mark Williams.
Methmann has worked as a non-sworn administrative office worker since 2005, Williams said.
A criminal investigation began on the missing jewelry on Monday, Williams said, and detectives discovered evidence that implicated Methmann in the burglary.
She was arrested at her Carpinteria Apartment, and later booked into the Santa Barbara County Jail, with bail set at $50,000, Williams said.
The Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office has yet to review the case, Williams said.
At the time of her arrest, Methmann had been on administrative leave while department officials were investigating a complaint lodged in January alleging she had stolen $50 from the Sheriff’s Department during work. She was linked to that crime, Williams said, and placed on leave Jan. 29.
That internal theft case also has been submitted to the District Attorney’s Office, which has already reviewed the case and will be prosecuting.
“We are extremely disturbed that someone from within the Sheriff’s Office would betray the public trust in this manner,” Sheriff Bill Brown said in statement. “Due to the policies and systems we have in place, investigators were quickly able to identify and take action on this unfortunate and aberrant employee behavior.”
Brown commended the work that Sheriff’s Office employees do each day, and “sadly in this case, an employee chose to violate the law and the Sheriff’s Office was swift in taking appropriate action. All necessary steps are also being taken to ensure this type of crime is not repeated.”
— Noozhawk staff writer Lara Cooper can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
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