On Saturday, November 26th, 2022, at 9:56 am, the Turlock Police Department was dispatched to a reported commercial burglary at La Mo Cafe, 310 E Main St, Turlock.

Officers arrived on scene and made contact with the victim, who informed them that a man had been seen in the upstairs office of the business at about 7:00 am. Employees were able to scare the man off and he fled the area on foot. When the victim checked the office, she noticed cash missing. The victim showed officers surveillance camera video of the incident.

A few hours later, employees saw the man a few blocks down the street and called police.

Officers arrived and contacted Lionel Villanueva, 49, of Turlock, who was wearing the same clothes depicted in the surveillance camera video. Villanueva was determined to be on searchable probation so he was searched. The search led to the discovery of the cash and other items that had been taken from the business, as well as some methamphetamines.

Villanueva was arrested and booked into the Stanislaus County Public Safety Center on charges of burglary and possession of methamphetamines.