TORRANCE, Calif. (KNX) — Investigators with the Torrance Police Department revealed Tuesday they have found no evidence that a man in possession of hundreds of recall election ballots was intended to tamper with results.
The man, Eduardo Mena, 34, of Hawthorne, was arrested in August after he was found in a vehicle parked in the lot of a 7-Eleven store in Torrance. Inside the vehicle, police recovered a loaded gun, methamphetamine, and thousands of pieces of mail that included around 300 ballots meant for the 2021 California gubernatorial recall election.
Investigators spent months combing through evidence to determine what Mena intended to do with the ballots.
“After reviewing all of that evidence, investigators have not uncovered any evidence indicating Mena intended to engage in any type of election fraud,” Torrance police officials said in a news release.
They did, however, find evidence to suggest that Mena intended to commit bank fraud and identity theft with credit card and banking information found in some of the allegedly stolen mail.
Mena was indicted on charges of bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, possession of stolen mail, and possessing a firearm as a felon, according to police. He remained in custody as of Tuesday in connection with an unrelated criminal matter.
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