Crime & Safety
Palm Desert DMV Employee Accused of Stealing Customers' Credit Card Info
The Riverside County Sheriff's Department says the employee used customers' information after they conducted business at the local DMV office.
A Desert Hot Springs man who works at the Palm Desert Department of Motor Vehicles was jailed Thursday on forgery and theft charges, accused of stealing credit card information from customers, sheriff's officials said.
24-year-old Martin Mendoza was arrested Thursday at the DMV office on Technology Drive, according to Sheriff's Sergeant Brad Farwell.
Farwell said that the investigation into Mendoza's alleged criminal activities began after two people— one in January and another in March— reported to police that their credit cards had been stolen and used "immediately after" they had visited the DMV.
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"Members of the Palm Desert Station Burglary Suppression Unit (BSU) conducted follow-up investigation and with the assistance of DMV Investigators, identified DMV employee, Martin Mendoza, age 24 of Desert Hot Springs, as the employee who conducted the transactions with both victims," Farwell said.
On Thursday, law enforcement went to the office, and arrested Mendoza while he was working, according to Farwell.
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They took him to the Indio jail, where he was booked in lieu of $5,000 bail, jail records indicated.
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