Peninsula Man, Girlfriend Arrested, Accused Of Returning Stolen Items To Store

Deputies arrested two people on suspicion of conspiracy and fraud Sunday morning, according to the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office.

At 9:59 a.m., sheriff’s deputies made contact with a man who was sitting in his vehicle in a CVS parking lot, located at 11 El Camino Real. One of the deputies recognized seeing the vehicle in a different parking lot in the city earlier that morning. The suspect refused to identify himself, saying that he was waiting for his girlfriend, who went inside the CVS to use the restroom, sheriff’s officials said.

Deputies were able to identify the man as Arnell Clark of East Palo Alto. Deputies conducted a records check and revealed that Clark had been released from prison in April and was on parole.

A search of Clark and his vehicle revealed hundreds of cash register receipts from major stores in the Peninsula and the East Bay, according to the sheriff’s office.

Deputies also found notebooks containing handwritten descriptions of store items and prices that matched some of the receipts.

Deputies found Clark’s girlfriend, South San Francisco resident Jessica Mattos, inside the CVS store and she was also in possession of items that matched the receipts that Clark had in his vehicle, sheriff’s officials said.

Deputies determined that the two were conspiring to steal the selected items and then return them at the store’s location on the receipt, according to the sheriff’s office.

--Bay City News