Security videos lead to man's arrest

Courtesy of Madera Police Department

Madera police officers Lori Alva and Brandon Bianchi find 49-year-old David Cruz wearing shoes allegedly stolen on West Cleveland Avenue.

---

Surveillance footage at two different businesses led to the arrest of a man who allegedly damaged glass doors at one site and exchanged his shoes for a new pair at another.

Madera police booked 49-year-old David Valdez Cruz on Saturday afternoon. He faces charges of vandalism, receiving stolen property worth more than $95 and violating probation.

Officer Joseph Velasquez responded to a report of “vandalism in the 400 block of South Gateway Drive where the suspect damaged two glass business doors with a rock,” said Madera Police Sgt. Felix Gonzalez.

Surveillance video showed a suspect whom police identified as Cruz.

Meanwhile Officer Brandon Bianchi went to the 2000 block of West Cleveland Avenue where the same suspect allegedly “stole a new pair of shoes, leaving his old ones behind,” Gonzalez said. “In this case, Cruz was also identified after he was caught on surveillance footage.”

Officers Lori Alva and Bianchi later found Cruz “wearing the stolen shoes,” according to Gonzalez.