On September 4, 2016, the Shafter Police Department received a call from a Bakersfield woman who advised someone placed several donation jars inside businesses throughout Shafter.

The jars had the name and picture of the woman who reported the incident on the jars and a request to donate to her funeral.

The victim’s relatives live in Shafter and called her when they saw her name and picture on the jar.  When the Shafter police officer responded to the gas stations, the jars had already been removed by the suspect.  Other jars were removed by the victim. 

An investigation was conducted, and last night, on September 7, 2016, Shafter police officers obtained a warrant and arrested Sergio Castilo, a Shafter resident, for false representation in solicitation of charitable contributions, and the unauthorized use of personal information of another.  He was booked into the Kern County jail.

Please direct all related media inquiries to Deputy Chief Brian Smith or Lieutenant Burnett at (661) 746-8500.