Petaluma police arrest identity theft suspect

Petaluma police said they arrested a Bay Area man found with stolen credit cards and equipment connected with identity theft.

Bradley Grasseschi, 27, of Livermore, was arrested Monday afternoon on suspicion of having personal information for more than 10 people with the intent to defraud them, possessing counterfeiting equipment intending to commit fraud and possessing methamphetamine, police said in a news release.

About 4 p.m. Monday, an officer questioned Grasseschi, who was in a parked car at the Washington Square Plaza shopping center on South McDowell Boulevard.

Grasseschi was on probation in Alameda County, allowing police to search the car. Inside, officers found identifying information for at least 20 people and equipment used to get into financial accounts and make fake credit cards, police said. Grasseschi told officers he used online sites that sell stolen credit card numbers, and that those accounts then can be accessed with fake credit cards cloned and used, police said.

The victims live throughout the United States, but one appeared to be a Sonoma County resident.

You can reach Staff Writer Randi Rossmann at 707-521-5412 or randi.rossmann@pressdemocrat.com.