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Santa Clara Stadium Contractor Arrested On Suspicion Of Theft

SANTA CLARA (CBS SF) -- The general contractor of the San Francisco 49ers' new stadium in Santa Clara said Friday that an employee of a subcontractor was arrested on suspicion of theft but that the case was apparently unrelated to the project.

"We are aware that an employee of Cupertino Electric, a subcontractor on the stadium project, has been arrested for theft from his employer," according to a statement released by Turner Devcon, which is overseeing the $1.3 billion Levi's Stadium under construction.

"This employee has performed work on Levi's Stadium and, while it does not appear there have been any fraudulent charges to the stadium project, we will await the results of the investigation before commenting further," the statement said.

Santa Clara police Lt. Kurt Clarke said that the Cupertino Electric employee, Vincent John Latona, 37, was arrested Monday on suspicion of grand theft and burglary.

Clarke said he did not know what was allegedly stolen or how police learned about it.

Latona was arraigned on Wednesday in Santa Clara County Superior Court on five felony counts of grand theft and two counts of burglary, according to a court employee.

His next appearance in court is scheduled for Monday, the court employee said.

In its statement, Turner Devcon said the company would have independent auditors review invoices from Cupertino Electric.

"If there were any inappropriate charges, they will be fully recovered from the contractor, and neither the (Santa Clara) Stadium Authority nor the 49ers will incur any cost in this regard," the statement said.

(Copyright 2013 by CBS San Francisco and Bay City News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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