Accused Caltrain thief faces embezzlement charges

He is being held at San Mateo County Jail in lieu of $150,000. If convicted, he faces a maximum of four years in prison.

Although Eastridge admitted he stole at least $50,000 when detectives searched him last November, his attorney is arguing that Caltrain's estimates on the amount of money taken are way off.

Caltrain treasury manager Carol Lawson, who testified yesterday at a preliminary hearing, said the dollar value is probably underestimated as computer tracking of money collected is updated once a day.

Eastridge worked for Petaluma-based VenTek International, Inc., which designed, installed and maintains the fare collection and ticket dispensing devices at the 34 stations along the Caltrain line from San Francisco to Gilroy. VenTek technicians are not permitted to have any contact with money or the bill vaults that are collected by Dunbar security company.

When detectives executed a search warrant Nov. 12 at VenTek and at Eastridge's home, they found keys police said Eastridge used to gain access to the bill vaults. They also seized major appliances, tools, a high-definition television and other items thought to be purchased with the stolen money. Eastridge allegedly told police that he took the money because he felt he was being cheated by VenTek and he was underappreciated. He had also accumulated debt, testified witness Frank Taylor, who was one of the detectives who investigated the theft. Eastridge told police he took about $1,500 a month, which he used to buy food, gas and a trip for his sister and her family from the East Coast to California.

Deputy District Attorney Sean Gallagher also sought to establish that Eastridge used a laptop computer to reset a the vending machines' money tracking system.

Caltrain officials first noticed there was missing money in Sept. 2001, but didn't conduct a full-blown investigation until July 2002 when they contacted police. Lloyd Handler, Eastridge's attorney, questioned why it took Caltrain so long to initiate the investigation. He also said that there was corruption in the team of technicians that Eastridge managed and that the suspect is taking the blame. Handler also said Caltrain may have its own problems with record keeping.

Lawson testified that Caltrain became suspicious when auditors noticed a large number of shutdowns of the vending machines computer and corresponding money missing. She said it is not necessary to shut down the machine to repair them. Caltrain believes Eastridge stole money on at least 106 occasions. Although other technicians had shutdown the machines, there was no corresponding losses with those shutdowns.

Eastridge is scheduled to appear in court at 8:30 a.m. on May 8.

Andrew Becker can be reached by e-mail: andrew@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 109. What do you think of this story? Send a letter to the editor: letters@smdailyjournal.com.<