Residents of north Ceres alerted police to the suspicious behavior of a man cruising around on a bicycle in the dark on the morning of Monday, Feb. 9. When police caught up to Paul Mendoza, 30, of Ceres, they saw him fling a backpack into the bushes in the 1300 block of Fruitridge.

Officers searched the backpack and found mail stolen from seven different addresses. Mendoza admitted that he was out stealing mail so he could sell it to those who use it for ID theft.

Mendoza was arrested at 5:03 a.m. and charged with impersonating another person, ID theft, possession of drug paraphernalia and probation violation.