Thousand Oaks City Watch Update - 6/30/09

Here is the latest "City Watch" alert from Deputy Jim DeSoto of the Thousand Oaks Police Department. If you are interested in receiving these updates directly from him via email, click here for more information.

Crime Fighters,

I hope everyone had a great week and enjoyed our wonderful Conejo Valley weather. The longer days of sun, warm weather and summer time activities make this area a special place to live.

Kids are out in full force and so are their shenanigans. An exuberant yet destructive person has been putting super glue in the locking mechanisms of many apartments on Warwick. A crime of this type would usually not be mentioned, however, this person has struck multiple times, caused hundreds of dollars in damage, and most importantly has inconvenienced and disturbed many families. BB gun delinquents are still causing damage to property in the Newbury Park area. Children have fun with their toys but those same toys can be very destructive to lives and property.

Keeping with the shenanigan theme, someone punctured multiple tires while the vehicles were parked overnight in the east area of the city. All the vehicles were randomly targeted but again the cost of the vandalism and the aggravation to the families were high. In Oak Park, numerous vehicles were intentionally damaged and had property taken from inside the vehicle. Once again, the culprits stuck overnight in the same neighborhood where the vehicles were left unlocked with property waiting for the taking.

Crooks are still targeting workout places and the latest places hit were the locker rooms and parked vehicles at 24 Hour Fitness. We need all these activities to stop! Anyone with information is asked to call detectives (805-494-8201), dispatch (805-654-9511), or Crime Stoppers (800-222-TIPS (8477)). You can always remain anonymous and Crime Stoppers offers monetary rewards for your assistance in solving these and other crimes.

Lastly, with this beautiful weather, please take precautions on family outings so you will never regret your actions. Unfortunately, we regularly hear or read about injuries or tragedies about events that could have been prevented. There are a lot of websites about summer safety including information on water safety, heat stroke prevention, skin safety, bugs and insect safety, poison ivy preventions, etc. Yes, the list is endless but very important.

Have a great Fourth of July celebration and remember about fireworks safety. Fireworks are illegal to possess in the city but nevertheless people still have them. Regardless, my main concern is that no one gets hurts, especially children.

Thank you again for being our eyes and ears out there on the streets.

Take care, be careful and safe,

Jim (DeSoto)