Thousand Oaks Police Department City Watch Update, October 5, 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,

The heat wave has left us but we still have a wave of thefts throughout the city. Most of the thefts from vehicles and vehicle burglaries occur in the late night and early morning hours; however, I am reading more incident reports of these types of crimes happening during the day in parking lots and residential neighborhoods. The criminals are not resting and neither shall we. Please circulate the City Watch e-mails to your neighbors and friends and continue a constant eye for criminals and their contemptible conduct.

Looters attacked another vacant house. Unfortunately, there are many vacant houses that are in foreclosure or awaiting renters or new owners. The thieves are ransacking the vacant houses in Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley and cities in Los Angeles County. Appliances are the favorite items taken and luckily these homes are not being completely stripped. A safe guess would be that the same persons are responsible for these thefts and the detectives and past victims need a lead in these thefts. If there is any unoccupied house, vacant house, or house undergoing renovation on your street, please be watchful for any activity at these locations and never presume that anyone’s presence at the vacant house is legitimate. If you see suspicious activity, be a wonderful witness and call the dispatch center at 805.654.9511.

I mentioned in an earlier City Watch about suspects taking tailgates from trucks. Now a new group of thieves have targeted other vehicles, in particular, Jaguars. Someone broke into a dealership’s storage yard and took 12 tires from the high-end vehicles. In another incident near the Auto Mall, another crook smashed a window and removed the navigation system and stereo. There have been other component thefts from vehicles and I suspect the thieves are not personally using the items but rather selling them on the open market via the various avenues.

One observant person saw a thief casually pulling-up the door handles of many vehicles in a condominium complex. Thinking that person was not part of the NTSB conducting an inspection, she called police who detained the lawbreaker. Amazingly, the crook said he was not doing anything criminal but he was not able to bamboozle the officers. The thief’s vehicle somehow contained stolen property and now he will have to explain to the jury how that happened.

In years past, teens used to throw water balloons at passing vehicles. This act is a dangerous endeavor and prank but this past weekend someone surpassed this unsafe and perilous joke. A vehicle was driving through a residential neighborhood when the driver and passenger saw a lit airborne object moving toward their vehicle. The object landed about 15 feet from the vehicle and exploded. No one was injured and vehicle was not damaged. The deputies were able to determine where the improvised Molotov cocktail came from but were unsuccessful in getting the culprits out their hideaway.

As most of you know, we had a homicide in the city last week. Violent crimes, especially, murder, are very rare in the City of Thousand Oaks. The detectives worked throughout the night and the continued their investigation the following days. The suspect was arrested later in the week in Los Angeles County. The detectives at the Thousand Oaks Police Station helped immensely during the investigation and the initial responding deputies did a excellent job in containing the scene and conducting the preliminary interviews that were critical in apprehending the suspect.

Take care and let’s work together to put the crooks in jail.

Jim