Worker arrested for embezzlement had criminal past

By MELANIE C. JOHNSON
The Press-Enterprise

REDLANDS - Court records show that a temporary worker arrested last week for allegedly embezzling money from the city of Redlands has a criminal record.

Robin Denise Bradford, arrested Aug. 6 on suspicion of stealing hundreds of dollars in cash, along with some checks and credit card receipts, plead guilty in July 2008 on a misdemeanor charge of grand theft of personal property, according to court records.

Three phone calls to a number listed for Bradford's Highland residence went unanswered Thursday.

Richard Young, supervising deputy district attorney, said his office is still reviewing the current case.

No charges have been filed yet, which lists the city of Redlands, Hillside Memorial Cemetery and the Redlands Police Department as the alleged victims, Young said.

Redlands officials do background checks for some of its own employees according to its personnel rules and regulations.

But Bradford, 50, was a temp brought in from an outside agency, not a city employee.

Carl Baker, Redlands spokesman, said Bradford was brought in under an existing contract with a temp agency called Ajilon Professional Staffing, so the city did not perform the background check.

Generally, the agency is responsible for performing background checks on the employees it provides. That policy is being revised, he said.

Anthony Guerrieri, an Ajilon spokesman, said by e-mail that he could not comment on the background checks or the incident, citing the investigation.

"We are just as disappointed as the City of Redlands that this incident has happened and we are in full support of any investigation by local authorities," he said.

Bradford came to the city in May to fill in for several weeks in the Treasurer's Office for a fulltime city employee who was out of the office for surgery, he said. Her duties included providing counter coverage and processing utility payments, he said.

In July, city employees noticed suspicious cash shortages. Several hundred dollars was missing, as were checks and credit card receipts, according to Baker.

On the morning of Aug. 6, Redlands Police Detective Leslie Martinez conducted an investigation and served a search warrant at Bradford's Highland home. Police recovered most of the stolen checks and credit card receipts, but not the cash, he said.

She was arrested on suspicion of embezzlement, possession of stolen property and grand theft.

Redlands' former city treasurer Michael Jon "Mike" Reynolds plead guilty in August 2008 of embezzling more than $38,000 from the petty cash fund over a 13-year period. That prompted the city to institute some verification procedures to make it easier to check for errors or discrepancies.

Finance Director Tina Kundig said in a statement that the changes helped finance office employees discover the thefts quickly.

Reach Melanie C. Johnson at 951-368-9489 or mjohnson@PE.com

Arrested cab driver has lengthy criminal record

The San Antonio cab driver accused of assaulting a female passenger has a long history of run-ins with the law.

Fifty-nine-year old John Willis’ criminal background includes two convictions for unlawful carry of a weapon, one for criminal mischief, two for criminal trespassing, three for driving with a suspended license, and two convictions for DWI. All of his convictions occurred more than six years prior to him receiving his operators permit from the city of San Antonio in 2003.

All cab driver must undergo a criminal background check with the police department before receiving a permit. SAPD says it was aware of Willis’ troubled past when it approved his permit.

“In this particular case this individual’s record was clean for many years," said Assistant Police Chief Geraldine Garcia.

San Antonio has an ordinance pertaining to issuing permits to individuals with criminal records, but Garcia said the ordinance is not clear as to what crimes make an applicant ineligible.

In 2008, the city rejected nearly one in four applications for cab driver permits.

Garcia said, "We can't predict the future, but we do as much as we can."