Employee of College Print Shop Arrested : Investigation: He is suspected of using Compton school’s facilities to produce birth certificates, blank checks and other counterfeit documents, sources say.

Police arrested a five-year employee of the Compton Community College print shop Wednesday for allegedly running a counterfeiting operation out of the campus facility.

Santiago Ardines, 41, is suspected of using the print shop to reproduce reams of false documents, such as birth certificates, blank checks and stationery for foreign embassies, according to sources close to the investigation.

College President Byron Skinner, who found some of the documents when he looked into reports of possible wrongdoing at the shop, said he was disturbed by what he saw.

“I found two blank birth certificates and other documents, some of which looked as if they were related to clearance for immigration,” Skinner said.

Although Ardines is being held in Compton’s jail on suspicion of stealing from the college--by using facilities for personal gain--police expect that more serious charges could be filed as the investigation continues, said Capt. Steve Roller.

Sources close to the investigation said stationery for two foreign embassies and concert tickets--in the separation process necessary for mass reproduction--also were found.

In addition, investigators found ink-stained printing plates to reproduce checks that would draw on the bank accounts of counties in North Carolina and Virginia, the sources said.

Police would not verify the existence of those plates, or of completed stationery for at least two foreign embassies, saying they have not yet studied all of the documents.

Ardines has been the chief suspect in the counterfeiting case since college administrators and police found stacks of falsified documents among Ardines’ personal belongings in the print shop, police said.

Several boxes of evidence were pulled out of the print shop last week after Skinner called police. He had uncovered some documents during Memorial Day weekend after he heard reports that outside printing work was being done in the college shop.

Investigators spent most of Wednesday looking for Ardines after the printer failed to show up for a scheduled interview at the Police Department, Roller said. Ardines arrived at the station about 3 p.m. and was arrested after a brief talk with police.