A serial thief using fake credit cards has been caught in Ukiah. On Monday Ukiah Police were alerted to a credit card fraud in progress at Friedman Brothers on Airport Park Blvd. UPD detectives got in the cashier line behind the suspect, now known to be Jason Ress, and after a brief foot chase took him into custody. Ress was found in possession of a meth pipe, a fake California ID and about 15 fraudulent credit cards with that fake name. Friedman Brothers says Ress had previously made several fraudulent transactions at their various locations in Sonoma, Petaluma, Santa Rosa, and Ukiah for thousands of dollars. Detectives then contacted his wife, Diana Ress, at a nearby hotel where they were registered under the fake name. Turns out he’d recently been arrested in Scotts Valley with 400 fraudulent credit cards and a machine to make them. Detectives found one those machines here as well, along with more meth and some stolen items. Jason Ress remains in custody on $95,000. Diana Ress is currently not in custody but police say charges are pending.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers continues to make steady progress on the Consolidated Debris Removal Program following the October wildfires. The program is a two-phase process – Phase I is the removal of Household Hazardous Waste which, for Lake and Mendocino Counties, is being done by the California Department of Toxic Substance Control. Phase II is the removal of debris from structures destroyed by the fire, and is being managed by the Corps for FEMA. The Corps says they’ve so far cleared more than 288,055 tons of debris from 880 properties in Mendocino, Lake, Sonoma and Napa counties. Property owners with questions can contact the Debris Removal Information Line at 877-875-7681.
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