CHICO, Calif. -- A Red Bluff man is facing felony charges after being caught stealing from several stores in the Chico area, according to the Butte County District Attorney's Office.
Police arrested 30-year-old Mark Belisle, Jr., of Red Bluff, last Friday night, Dec. 20, while he was driving a box truck filled with stolen goods. District Attorney Mike Ramsey said Belisle fled from Dick's Sporting Goods with numerous stolen sports clothes and was later caught in the Chico Wal-Mart parking lot.
Ramsey said officers found 80 items in the truck all still in their original packaging with price tags from stores including Old Navy, Best Buy, Target and Boot Barn.
Belisle reportedly kept his thefts at each store below the felony grand theft threshold of $950. However, with Proposition 36, which took effect on Dec. 18, 2024, prosecutors can now stack his thefts to exceed the $950 limit and allow them to charge Belisle with felony grand theft.
Additionally, Ramsey said Belisle also faces charged for committing the Chico thefts while on bail for pending theft and drug-related crimes in Tehama County. He reportedly had outstanding warrants for those crimes after failing to appear in Tehama County Superior Court.
Belisle was arraigned on multiple charged in Butte County Superior Court, according to Ramsey, and was remanded to Butte County Jail with bail set at $140,000. He is scheduled to appear with a public defender on Dec. 31, to set the preliminary hearing on his charges.