Suspect nabbed with stolen credit card

Mendocino County authorities knew they were looking for a thief with pink hair when they set out Tuesday to find a man suspected of using a tourist's credit card to charge merchandise at six Fort Bragg-area businesses.

But it turned out to be the bland description of a black 1980s-era SUV that led investigators to their suspect, James Robert Lane of Fort Bragg, Mendocino County Sheriff's Sgt. Dennis Bushnell said Wednesday.

That Lane's coif was in the appropriate shade merely confirmed suspicions that it was he who allegedly charged about $700 on the credit card stolen earlier from a visiting tourist's wallet in a car parked outside a vacation rental home, authorities said.

It also helped that victim Scott Wennegren of Goleta was on the case himself, calling his credit card company and learning where his card had been used since it disappeared earlier in the day.

In fact, it was in use at a Circle K in Fort Bragg when he spoke with authorities, at one point.

And though whoever used the card was gone by the time deputies arrived there, the clerk gave them a description of the man and his vehicle, Bushnell said.

Deputies driving around looking for the car, initially described as a black Chevy Blazer, found a black Ford Bronco parked on Sherwood Road at the edge of town just outside a home occupied by pink-haired Lane.

Inside, they found a distinctive surfboard and other items they believe were purchased with Wennegren's card.

"The rest of it was just kind of petty stuff," Bushnell said, "but the surfboard was a big item, and the two $100 gift cards. Then he just got munchies at Longs, I think."

Lane was arrested for suspected burglary, forgery, grand theft and possession of stolen property.

He remained in the county jail Wednesday, with bail of $35,000.

You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan at 521-5249 or mary.callahan@pressdemocrat.com.