(KMJ) – The Tulare County Sheriff’s Office says the high-tech tool, SmartWater CSI, helped investigators make an arrest after a series of recent battery thefts from local farmers in the northern Visalia area.
Ag Crimes Detectives and District Attorney Investigators placed SmartWater on various agricultural equipment, which glows green under U-V light.
On August 26th at approximately 11:30 p.m., units received word that equipment had been stolen. Deputies from the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office then responded to a home in the 14300 Block of Ave 384 in Cutler and contacted the suspect, identified as Everardo Sarmiento.
The equipment was later found in a stolen vehicle from the Visalia area. And Deputies say they also found additional stolen property from a recent unrelated burglary.
Sarmiento was arrested and booked at the Tulare County Adult Pre-Trial Facility for Grand Theft, Possession of Stolen Property and Vehicle theft.
