GILROY
– A 19-year-old Gilroy man had been working under another local
man’s name and Social Security number for the past year and a half
before being arrested Monday, city police say.
GILROY – A 19-year-old Gilroy man had been working under another local man’s name and Social Security number for the past year and a half before being arrested Monday, city police say.
The accused man’s real first name is Ivan Arriola-Molina, police think, as that name and the man’s picture appeared on a Mexican consular card police found in his wallet.
According to police, Arriola-Molina said he bought another person’s Social Security card and immigration card for $60 on the corner of First and Church streets. He needed a job at the time, he told police, but he was 17 years old – too young to work legally in the United States. Arriola-Molina was born in Mexico and is not an American citizen. He lives at 841 Mantelli Drive.
Police tracked Arriola-Molina down to the Talamo Food processing plant, at 6650 Silacci Way on the east side of Gilroy, and arrested him there at 11:09 a.m. Monday for identity theft, a felony.
Neither police nor Talamo Food officials would confirm or deny that Arriola-Molina works or worked for Talamo Food. Talamo Food General Manager Joseph Talamo said both police and his attorney had advised him “not to say anything” about a case of identity theft.
The man whose cards Arriola-Molina used lives in Gilroy, police said. In April 2002, this man’s car was broken into and his wallet stolen. That wallet contained his Social Security card and driver’s license, among other items, according to police.
