Santa Rosa woman arrested for over 100 counts of identity theft after stealing U-Haul

Photo courtesy: Santa Rosa Police Department

(KRON) — Santa Rosa police arrested 40-year-old Melissa Gutierrez and her accomplice on Wednesday for fabricating more than 100 false identities. The arrest came after an investigation into a missing U-Haul truck, police said.

According to SRPD, an investigation into Gutierrez was launched in May after she was unable to return a U-Haul to a dealership on Hopper Avenue for several days. Later investigations revealed that the rental was completed using a fake ID with a victim’s information and a photo of Gutierrez, police said.

On Tuesday morning, detectives executed a search warrant on Gutierrez’s home on Pioneer Way. During the execution of the warrant, detectives found “extensive evidence of check fraud, forgery and identity theft involving more than 100 victims,” ​​according to the SRPD. Detectives also identified 51-year-old Mark Boyce of Santa Rosa as Gutierrez’s co-conspirator.

At the time of the search warrant, police said Gutierrez already had several fraud and theft cases pending in Sonoma County Superior Court, including one count of check fraud and the personal information of more than 20 victims. Police said Gutierrez still had the personal information of many of the same victims when she was arrested Tuesday.

Both Gutierrez and Boyce were charged with the following:

• conspiracy
• Forgery
• Identity theft

Both suspects were booked into the Sonoma County Main Adult Detention Center on Wednesday. Gutierrez was arrested in three separate cases and his bail was increased by $150,000, a Sonoma County Superior Court judge said.

Police said investigators will contact the victims to determine whether their personal information was obtained illegally.