Suspect Arrested After Stealing Bear Valley Electric Truck

Big Bear, Ca, January 18, 2012, 1:00pm – On January 17^th at approximately 10:45 a.m., deputies of the Big Bear Sheriff’s Station responded to a report of a stolen Bear Valley Electric Service vehicle from the 500 block of Orange Avenue in Sugarloaf.  According to the Sheriff’s Department, an employee of Bear Valley Electric Service was shutting off an electric meter at a residence in the area when the employee’s vehicle was stolen.  The employee was able to provide deputies with a description of the suspect and the suspect’s direction of travel.  The vehicle was equipped with a GPS tracking device and Bear Valley Electric Service cooperated with deputies in providing a general vicinity of the whereabouts of the vehicle.   The vehicle was reported to be traveling on Sawmill Rd. towards Moonridge.  The vehicle was recovered at a residence in the 1200 block of Sheephorn Rd. in Big Bear Lake.  Prior to deputies arriving on scene, the suspect fled from the vehicle into the residential neighborhood in Moonridge. Shortly after 2:00 p.m that same day, deputies responded to a call of a residential burglary alarm at a vacation home in the 700 block of Menlo Drive, the same neighborhood where the Bear Valley Electric Service vehicle was recovered.  As they were checking the perimeter of the house, deputies found suspect Paul Bustamante attempting to exit the house through a window with stolen property on his person.  Bustamante matched the description of the suspect who stole the vehicle and was positively identified by the employee of Bear Valley Electric Service.  Bustamante was taken into custody without incident.  Bustamante, a resident of Fontana who was in the Big Bear Valley visiting relatives,  was booked on felony charges of vehicle theft and burglary.  Additionally, Bustamante had an outstanding misdemeanor warrant for driving under the influence.  Bustamante is in custody at West Valley Detention Center in lieu of $130,000 bail, with his arraignment hearing set for January 19^th at the San Bernardino Superior Court.