Thousand Oaks Police Department City Watch Update - April 7, 2010

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

Crime Fighters,

Thank you for doing an outstanding job. The suspicious persons calls to dispatch are received frequently and some good arrests are being made. The residents are always the eyes and ears for any police department and by working together we are making our community safer.

One solicitor in Newbury Park did not count on the neighbors looking out for each other. A solicitor, after not getting a response at the front door, took the liberty of going into the backyard, undoubtedly for nefarious reasons, and was seen by the homeowner and a nearby neighbor. Needless to say the solicitor feigned insanity by stating he did not realize he was in the backyard.  The crooks are always quick for explanations but they are never reasonable or believable.

In another call in our neighboring City of Camarillo, a suspicious person call led to an arrest of a wannabe pharmacist. The caller reported a person removing tires from one vehicle and placing the tires in another vehicle. The person was contacted and it turned out that he had in his possession many different types of illegal prescription drugs, illegal drugs, and he had three warrants for his arrest. The deputies rightfully arrested this person and delayed his illegitimate pharmaceutical business.

Some residents on the east end of Thousand Oaks did a great job. Two men dressed in ‘repairmen’ clothing knocked on the front door of a house—sound familiar? After the resident thinking it was just solicitors and willingly ignoring the knocks on the front door, the ‘repairmen” worked their way into the backyard and broke a rear window. The resident upon hearing the glass break confronted the men before they were able to make entry into the house. The ‘repairmen’ fled but not before a perceptive neighbor recognized what was transpiring and wrote down the license plate of the getaway vehicle. The ‘repairmen’ escaped but not before some valuable information was gathered.  The case is still being investigated and it happens that these ‘repairmen’ were from the Los Angeles area.

In reviewing some of the recent residential burglary reports, I noticed entries were made via an unlocked window, another through an unlocked slider door and another via an unlocked window—on the second story of the residence. A ladder was left along the foundation by the resident of the house and the crooks(s) promptly used the ladder to get inside the house. Interestingly, the crook(s) in this caper used pepper spray on the dog and still ransacked the residence. Avoid confrontation and be great witnesses. As this case demonstrates, crooks will exploit any vulnerability and it is important to never presume that the bad guy will always target your neighbor and not you.

As much as I praised your commitment to calling in those suspicious people, we still need to tell others the importance of reporting suspicious behavior. In one case teenagers were seen loitering around a window and that same place was later burglarized. In another example, the crook was seen with what looked like a crow bar near a front door. It was later determined that the criminal forced entry through the front door of the residence using that tool.

If there is an empty house in your neighborhood, please also watch it for criminal activity. Appliances and household equipment have been stolen from non-inhabitant residences. Once such item taken was a water heater and another was a kitchen appliance. There are no limits to when or where a crime will occur.

The Thousand Oaks Police Department will once again be facilitating the Parent Project class starting Wednesday April 14, starting at 6pm. If you or someone you know can benefit from this class please call me at 805-371-8362 so I can get that person registered. More information can be found at the Parent Project website at www.parentproject.com . Best of all, the cost is free!

Finally, the Amgen Tour of California will be here on Sunday, May 23. As you know, Amgen is based in our wonderful city and they give a lot to the community. Here’s an opportunity for anyone who is interested in bicycle racing and volunteering. The tour is looking for support people and if you would like to help out with the event, please go to www.amgentourofcalifornia.com. Go to ‘tour’ on the left side of the page then to the ‘volunteer’ on the drop box.  Sign-up, enjoy, and I will see you out there.

Take care,

Jim (DeSoto)