Two arrested in alleged fraud case

The previously reported arrests of two separate individuals were confirmed by El Centro Police Department to be in connection to an ongoing investigation.

Andrea S. Betancourt, 31, and Adrian Garrido, 31, were identified as suspects in an ongoing investigation of a fraud case based in El Centro, explained an El Centro Police Department detective.

Betancourt and Garrido were arrested Tuesday morning on suspicion of identity theft and child endangerment offenses.

A search warrant was obtained to search Betancourt’s residence and was served on Tuesday.

At the time, Betancourt had an active warrant issued for her arrest for an unrelated incident, stated the detective.

“Imperial County Sheriff’s Office Border Crimes Suppression Team assisted our agency in taking Betancourt into custody at her workplace in El Centro,” said the ECPD detective on Betancourt’s arrest.

Betancourt was taken into custody at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday and booked into county jail on suspicion of willful cruelty to a child, getting or obtaining crediting with another person’s identity, grand theft, elderly abuse and getting or obtaining credit with another person’s identity, county Sheriff’s Office arrest records stated.

Betancourt was held on a $100,000 bond for the three alleged felony and two misdemeanor offenses, stated the arrest records.

At the time El Centro Police Department’s Investigation Division served a search warrant on Tuesday, Garrido was home with a child.

In the process of searching the residence, drug paraphernalia was located which was deemed to be a potential harm to the child inside the residence.

Garrido was taken into custody at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at an undisclosed location in Imperial and charged with identity theft in the same case Betancourt was identified as a suspect in.

The 31-year-old male suspect was booked into county jail on suspicion of getting or obtaining crediting with another person’s identity and willful cruelty to a child, arrest records stated.

Garrido was held on a $100,000 bond for the alleged felony and misdemeanor offense, stated the arrest records.