Police use UPS to deliver an arrest

In a clever plan hatched by Costa Mesa police, a detective disguised himself as a UPS delivery man dropping off a package in hopes it would lure in the buyer, a pizza delivery man who allegedly used a stolen credit card for the purchase.

“We wanted to make it look as realistic as possible,” said Costa Mesa Lt. Paul Dondero.

On the afternoon of Oct. 15, detectives watched as Jason Le Tran, 23, of Fountain Valley, collected the UPS box from the doorstep of a vacant apartment in the 1000 block of South Coast Drive in Costa Mesa, police said.

Police had been investigating the UPS deliveries — not Tran — for about a month.

According to police, a few months ago, the international retail chain specializing in fragrances and skin care, Sephora, noticed a suspicious pattern of deliveries headed to a few Costa Mesa addresses. The deliveries caught the company’s attention because they were linked to purchases by credit cards reported stolen. Company officials notified police, Dondero said.

Last week, detectives put out their bait.

Authorities said they found that Tran had two UPS deliveries scheduled for Thursday.

Police worked with UPS to have an undercover officer pose as the delivery man.

After the officer dropped off the packages on the doorstep, all of the locations Tran allegedly used were vacant, so the officer waited.

Tran showed up in about 15 minutes, picked up his package and left, police said.

After he opened the first box and threw away the packaging, police pulled him over and arrested him on suspicion of grand theft and identity theft.