OXNARD : Ex-Seabee Arrested in Robbery on Base

Naval intelligence agents arrested a 21-year-old former Seabee in Oxnard on Tuesday in connection with the February robbery of a credit union at the U. S. Naval Construction Battalion Center in Port Hueneme, authorities said.

Steven Monte Mize was arrested at a private residence one day after an arrest warrant was issued by a federal magistrate in Malibu, said William K. Nugent, a special agent in the naval intelligence office at Port Hueneme.

Mize was identified in an investigation that followed the Feb. 5 robbery of the CBC Federal Credit Union, in which the robber made no effort to disguise himself before handing a demand note to a teller, Nugent said.

Naval intelligence agents, assisted by the FBI, interviewed witnesses and personnel at the base, leading them to identify Mize as a suspect, he said. Mize had been dismissed from the Navy but had continued to reside on the base illegally, Nugent said.

Handwritten documents found during a search of Mize’s quarters were compared to the demand note used in the robbery at a Naval forensic laboratory in San Diego, and the handwriting was determined to be the same, Nugent said.

If convicted, Mize could be sentenced to 20 years in prison and a $5,000 fine, he said.