/*Christopher Martinez*/, 31, was one of the two arrested and faces grand theft and conspiracy charges.
A trip to Candlestick Park for a San Francisco 49ers preseason game turned out to be a disappointment for a South Valley man who purchased the tickets listed on Craigslist. "He took the ticket that was sold to him by Robin Doran and when he approached the ticket taker, they scanned the ticket and determined the ticket was stolen out of Tulare County," said Sgt. Amy Watkins with the Visalia Police Dept.
The season tickets were limited edition, commemorative tickets bidding farewell to the 49ers last season playing at the stadium. They cost close to $3,000.
Police said Christopher Martinez stole a FedEx package containing them from Raul Natera's front door stops in July.
"I felt like someone had taken something very personal from me. Especially the last season, commemorative tickets. I was looking forward to the season. I was pretty devastated for a couple days," said victim, Raul Natera.
The stolen tickets were then listed on Craigslist by Martinez's girlfriend, Robin Doran. She had buyers pick up the invalid vouchers from her Visalia home in the 1400 block of North Oak Park. Once police found out about their alleged scheme, they had undercover officers set up a buy. "We made arrangements to purchase 6 tickets for about $850 and when we arrived, we had a search warrant in hand," said Watkins.
As for Natera, the 49ers organization reissued him new tickets. But police say there could be more victims. "We have recovered about half of the tickets. We know where some of the tickets are but there are about 14 that are outstanding," said Watkins.
If you think you may have purchased one of the tickets, police ask that you call the 49ers season ticket office and check to make sure they weren't stolen.
