Police: Man stole baby formula from Irvine stores

A man stole more than $1,000 worth of baby formula from stores in Irvine on Monday, just weeks after he was arrested for an almost identical crime, police said Friday.

Irvine police arrested Joshua Campos, 21, on Thursday after they recognized him on a surveillance video stealing canned baby formula from three grocery or drug stores in Irvine, according to an Irvine Police Department news release.

The department had run into Campos on Oct. 11, when an officer pulled him over for a traffic stop while he was leaving a shopping center. The officer allegedly found about $1,600 worth of stolen formula in Campos’ car.

Campos was arrested and booked at Orange County Jail on Oct. 11 but released without bail the next day, according to jail records.

As police investigated, they found out that the formula had been stolen during two commercial burglaries, one in Irvine and one in Orange, according to the department.

This type of theft isn’t uncommon, said Irvine police Lt. Julia Engen.

“The canned baby formula is very expensive and therefore easy to sell to people who do resale,” she said.

After recognizing Campos on tapes of the Oct. 21 burglaries, detectives were able to contact his associates, who encouraged Campos to contact investigators, police said.

Just after 7 p.m. Thursday, Campos turned himself in, police said.

This time, he’s being held on $100,000 bail, according to police and jail records.

— Jeremiah Dobruck

Twitter: @jeremiahdobruck