WELCOME TO FARM WATCH AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

The New Year is upon us and on the crime front, the Ventura County Sheriff's Office just released the crime statistics for all of its jurisdictions. In reviewing the crime statistics in the unincorporated area of the County, I am pleased to report that overall crime is down. I know many of you have been hit with multiple thefts, however, in reference to property crimes specifically, we saw a decrease of 15%. Our Agricultural Community saw some significant spikes in larcenies, particularly metal thefts throughout the year, however, quick reporting and aggressive investigations have resulted in a number of substantial arrests by all of our Sheriff's Office patrol areas.

Many of you know our Ag Crimes Detective Ray Dominguez and he along with several county detectives have made quite an impression on our ongoing crime fight. Det. Dominguez added the following from his office in Ventura:

I’m pleased to announce that we are enjoying continued success with combating the local metal theft problem by making arrests and returning stolen property to multiple victims. If you recall from the last edition of Farm Watch, I mentioned that several suspects were arrested in connection with a series of “Hoop House” metal thefts, and I made a promise that more arrests would come. Since mid-December 2011 I have worked with Sheriff’s Headquarters Station and Camarillo Station personnel on these cases, and we’ve arrested several additional suspects related to the “Hoop House” metal thefts and brought criminal charges against them.

In the process of investigating the “Hoop House” metal theft cases, we began seeing a new trend of criminal activity emerging. We identified another group of thieves that found their niche stealing the counterweights from tractors parked in fields at local farms throughout the Ventura, Camarillo, and Oxnard Plains area.

These suspects were also taking the stolen loot in the form of large cast iron weights painted that beautiful John Deere green (Beautiful because it’s easy to identify) to the same recycling center in Oxnard where we found the stolen “Hoop House” posts.

Through the course of the investigation, we were able to gather information from the recycling center and identify other suspects. We arrested 2 additional suspects, and had Grand Theft charges filed against them with the District Attorney’s Office.

I believe our recent success in large part is due to the relationships that we have forged with the local recycling centers, and you the folks in the community that have been the victim’s of crime, but heeded the message the Sheriff’s Office has been sending about marking your equipment, preserving the crime scene, and reporting the crime as quickly as possible. Your efforts have truly made a difference, and helped us help you recover your property and bring those suspects responsible for committing the thefts to justice.

I’m also proud to announce that the Sheriff’s Office will be partnering with other local law enforcement agencies in forming a task force to combat the local metal theft problem. As I mentioned above, the metal theft problems have clearly affected us working in the rural areas of the county, but it has also had a major impact on businesses in the urban areas.

Because of this widespread problem, those of us working in law enforcement find ourselves spending a great deal of time tracking down suspects residing and selling their loot in neighboring jurisdictions. By working together with neighboring agencies I believe we can be that much more effective in identifying and tracking down these suspects.

On another note, I want to bring another problem we face in the rural areas of the county to your attention as it is commonly experienced by farmers and ranchers at this time of year. The problem with cockfighting in rural areas has been going on for years, and this year is no different. Just this past weekend, I responded to assist Moorpark Station patrol deputies with a reported cockfighting event in the Santa Rosa Valley. I have responded to investigate many of these events in the past several years at various locations throughout the county.

As in past events that I have been on scene to investigate, I found that suspects had set up a portable fighting arena constructed of wood panels in a citrus orchard. The suspects also had their portable wire pens filled with aggressive fighting roosters strewn about the orchard as they prepared them for battle to the death.

I found the bloody carcasses of the roosters that had already been fought (But lost their battle) piled up on the ground. I found stray roosters walking freely about the orchard with the fighting blades still affixed to their legs.

I found items of paraphernalia associated with illegal bird fighting including live roosters housed in cardboard transport boxes, razor sharp fighting blades, used hypodermic syringes that were discarded in the orchard (The syringes are used by the bird owners to inject their roosters with illegal performance enhancing drugs, which include methamphetamine and other central nervous system stimulants), a large scale used to weigh the birds before battle, and a match sheet listing the various fights that would take place. I found that suspects also had alcoholic beverages stored in coolers as illegal food and drink sales are common at these events along with illegal gambling.

I found several abandoned vehicles parked among the rows of trees in the orchard that were being used as a mobile workbenches of sorts to transport the birds and prepare them for the fights. I also heard reports from the reporting party and deputies on scene of how the suspects fled in mass in their vehicles and into the neighboring hillside to avoid capture by deputies.

Despite making numerous arrests and enjoying successful prosecutions in the past, the fact is that we continue seeing this type of criminal activity throughout the county because the prize is still greater than the penalties for many of these suspects. I have received information from informants and prior arrestees that winning purses at local cockfighting derbies can be in the tens of thousands of dollars.

Suspects commonly face only misdemeanor charges for being arrested as spectators at these events or for possessing fighting roosters and the associated implements. Those arrested typically pay a fine, relinquish their roosters to authorities to be euthanized, and are placed on probation for a limited time.

Despite having stiffer animal cruelty laws on the books, the challenge has been in actually catching these suspects engaged in the act of fighting the roosters, and arresting/convicting them. In law enforcement we find ourselves more often than not responding to a cockfighting event at the stage when the primary participants have already been alerted to police response and fled the scene prior to our arrival.

Many times, the suspects involved in this activity are well organized and have persons stationed to serve as “Look outs” for deputies responding to the area. The suspects also use police radio scanners to monitor radio traffic. Information about these events including the date, time, and location is shared with only a very small group of trusted persons, and is subject to change at a moments notice.

Because of the suspects guarded operation, this creates problems for law enforcement officers trying to plan a raid operation to combat this problem, and many times find ourselves behind the curve. The suspects are so guarded that they often demand that participants meet at a designated location and change plans “On the fly” to be transported to the fight location in a carpool vehicle. Despite having informants that are willing to assist law enforcement, the multiple layers of security that fight organizers use prove difficult to overcome at times when planning a raid operation.

This is where we need your help, if you have a farm or ranch property that is experiencing this type of problem, please call the Sheriff’s Office Dispatch Center at 654-9511 to report it.

If the event has already taken place and you find yourself having to deal with the aftermath of remnants from the fights, including the disposal of dead birds and other trash left behind on your property, please call us because it is likely that they will try to use your property again for future fighting events, and Ventura County Animal Regulation Officers can help with the collection of the dead birds.

If you or someone you know has information about these events and suspects involved, and are willing to share that information, you can call me directly at 477-7029 to discuss the matter. If you’re concerned about reporting the information to police or want to remain anonymous you can also use the “Crime Stoppers” system by calling 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

I find that many of these events are held on farms and ranches that are vacant on the weekends (Particularly Sunday mornings). Locations in citrus and avocado groves near the river bottom also seem to be a favorite among these suspects. If you see a large gathering of vehicles and persons in rural areas on the weekends, and it’s obvious that it’s not a wedding or birthday celebration, please give us a call as it is likely that illegal cockfighting or rodeo events are being held at that location.

Rodeo events held in the rural areas typically require that organizers have a Conditional Use Permit issued ahead of time. Illegal rodeo events that have not been issued permits commonly draw persons engaged in other illegal activities such as illegal food and alcoholic beverage sales, animal fighting, illegal gambling, illegal drug sales/use, and prostitution just to name a few of the violations commonly found.

Thank you for your support, and please keep those tips coming in!

Detective Ray Dominguez

Ventura County Sheriff’s Office – Agricultural Crimes Detective

Other Notable areas of concern for this edition: Theft of Counter Weights seems to be the HOT ticket for this issue!

1400 block of Tierra Rejada Road, Moorpark: theft of 3 saddles from a private ranch, where the suspects broke into a locked shed

1000 block of North Victoria Ave, Ventura: theft of copper wire stripped from Nursery, 8 electrical junction boxes has been opened and cables were cut and removed.

300 block of La Loma Ave., Somis: suspect(s) entered this ranch property and stole several tires and rims from the garage/shop area

5600 block of Pine Grove Road, Santa Paula: suspect(s) entered this ranch property and stole a diesel water pump located by the creek

1500 block of Doris Rd, Oxnard: theft of 63 counter weights, (43 stolen recently, and 20 were stolen 2 months ago).

S. Las Posas Rd @ Laguna Rd, Oxnard: thieves entered a locked area and stole a tool box, counter weights and other miscellaneous items

Sturgis Rd @ Pleasant Valley Rd., Oxnard: 30 counter weights stolen from this ranch

Reminder to all: Please mark your equipment for identification. Please preserve the crime scene by keeping employees and vehicles out of the area until deputies arrive to process the scene. Please report criminal activity as soon as possible to increase the probability of recovering stolen property.

Additional Note: Sign up for VC ALERT, which is an emergency notification system that may be used to deliver alerts when there is a threat to the health and safety of residents. The VC Alert system replaces our Reverse 911, therefore the database includes some landline and cellular phone numbers. Please register on-line to ensure we have your correct information. www.vcalert.org

If you are not sure of how to address the problem or would like additional crime prevention tips please contact your local Sheriff’s Office substation or Detective Ray Dominguez directly at (805) 477-7029 or by email at ray.dominguez@ventura.org.

Contacts:

Fillmore Detective Darin Hendren darin.hendrin@ventura.org or 524-2235 Ventura Detective Christine Rettura Christine.rettura@ventura.org 662- 6770

Agricultural Crimes Detective, Ray Dominguez at Ray.Dominguez@ventura.org Camarillo Detective Nora Soler, at Nora.soler@ventura.org

As always, we would like to thank Sheriff’s Crime Analyst Karen Brown who puts together your maps and digests all the crime data along with Det. Ray Dominguez who assists with the crime summaries.

Be alert and always safe!

Monica (797-6338)

Geoff Dean - Sheriff
Gary Pentis & John Crombach - Assistant Sheriffs