Behind the Scenes:

Today we’d like to thank the Sheriff’s Special Services Crime Analyst Unit. Karen Brown supplies Farm Watch with all our crime data. Karen and others in the Unit work hard to keep our rural community safe. The Unit has included some new farm maps and charts in this email that include the entire county.

Farm Worker Alert:

This just happen last week: A group of four criminals stole money from Ventura County farm workers and Spanish speaking residents in a California lottery scam. Theses criminals single out Ventura County residents who use Spanish as their strongest language. They prefer female victims of adult or elderly age, but on occasion will prey on males.

They are excellent actors and you will never know that all four are connected. When you read the story, remember they change it up once a while mixing in fictitious IRS Agents, Fictitious Notaries and Fictitious Attorneys.

Here is the scene:

They hit while your farm workers are in a shopping center, parking lot, picking up kids from school or public building, they are approached by a Spanish-speaking female.

On occasion they use a male. The male or females are actors, and will tell the farm worker that he or she just found a State Lottery ticket and that they think it was the winning number.

Next, a passerby will approach as a random person and unknown to your farm worker. Usually the passerby will be well dressed as a businessman or woman. They will speak in Spanish to make the victim comfortable.

The two actor-criminals will both be excited about the lottery ticket. The actor-passerby will use his or her cell phone to call the State Lottery officials and see how to cash in the ticket. The person on the other end of the cell phone is not a lottery official, but part of the four person criminal group.

The criminal on the other end who is acting like a lottery official will tell the group that one must be a citizen to cash in the ticket.

The original female that held the ticket will start crying and tell your farm worker and the passerby criminal-actor that she is not a citizen. The passerby actor will ask your worker if they are a citizen? No matter what they reply, these well polished crooks will pull the farm worker in as a victim.

Then, the criminal/actor passerby will call a friend who is an immigration attorney. The fictitious attorney is the 4th actor. The criminal/actor passerby will put the victim on the cell phone to talk to the fictitious Spanish speaking attorney who will then describe a fair plan how all three can all cash the ticket in as a group.

The attorney actor on the phone will suggest that the three of the strangers split the lottery since the winner is not a citizen. Suggesting each will typically receive a third of $500,000 to $2,000,000. The attorney actor on the phone will suggest that since none of them know one another, that they each make a good faith deposit to him for $1,000 to $10,000.

He will tell them that they can all go to their banks or houses together for their cash deposit and drive together to the attorney's or Lottery Office in Ventura. The attorney will meet them there.

Of course everyone is excited, his or her lives are about to change. In our recent case, the original female actor began to cry with joy that she was able to make her way back to Mexico and retire. Our farm workers have been excited to be a part of it and readily hand over their life savings to the criminals.

Next, they actors will drive everyone and will stop on the way to the attorney office and get the victim to walk into a store for food, shopping or a meal. When they are not looking they will slip away with the good faith deposit.

If your workers are approached on this lottery scam: Write down the license plate of the actors and call 911 immediately. Our 911 Center will speak to them in Spanish and send help to catch the criminals.

We have attached a copy of this warning translated in Spanish for all farm workers. Get the word out and lets catch these crooks!

Fertilizer Thefts:

We have had two fertilizer thefts reported this last week, and I wouldn't be surprised if this crew hits again.

4 1/2 pallets of fertilizer were stolen overnight on Wooley road, near Rose Ave. A total of about 360 bags were stolen. Taken was "Pekacid" fertilizer and "Grow More" 20-20-20. The suspects forced entry into Connex boxes at the location. The bags were hand carried to a truck (appears it was a dually style truck, maybe even a rental box type truck). The suspects did try to hot-wire a forklift that was parked in front of the Connex boxes. Please call Detective Ray Dominguez (805) 797-6424 if you have tips or have been victimized.

Forklift Theft:

A citrus packinghouse on the 18,000 block of Highway 126 in the Santa Clara Valley had their forklift stolen. There are no suspects. Keep an eye open on Craig’s List.

Steal a Tree, Go To Jail:

If you recall, in our Last Farm Watch newsletter we talked about numerous avocado trees stolen from the foothill area. Detective Chris Rettura went on the hunt. We have all seen her in this mode before and knew the crook didn’t stand a chance.

Chris followed her leads and did probation searches last Friday. Low and behold Ventura resident Stephen Burchfield was on the list. Chris searched his house in Ventura and recovered 11 stolen avocado trees and other stolen farm tools. Chris wants to remind our Farm Watch members to mark all tools with the letters CDL followed by a driver’s license number. It helps us when we recover tools.

In short, Burchfield went to jail for possession of stolen property. Maybe he will end up at Todd Road Jail and can work in the jail lemon orchard?

Start Smart:

Deputy Tony Biter is our motorcycle officer who works hard to keep Highway 126 safe. A common complaint by farmers and nurseries revolves around safety issues while transiting 126 with farm equipment. Inattentive drivers cause many accidents. Teens are at high risk. Tony has taken teen driver safety to the next level and is teaching a free driver education class for teens.

Tony will emphasize teen issues about texting, alcohol, marijuana use, and cell phone use and general issues teen face while driving. Get your teen friends to our Farm Watch Start Smart class. We would like to thank Fillmore Fire for their help.

Call Tony at 805-524-3665 to sign up. The class is on April 13th, 6-10pm at the Fillmore Fire Station, 711 Sespe Place, Fillmore.

Grave Robbers Caught:

Last week, on the Oxnard Plains in the Camarillo area, three grave robbers were interrupted late at night. Local farm workers noticed these suspicious crooks and feared that there was more farm-theft afoot. They called 911. Camarillo deputies responded and snuck covertly into the remote ranch where they observed 3 adults digging on the ranch. Remember this was in the middle of the night, you can imagine the scene. They were using flashlights, digging with shovels and had hidden their vehicle. Caught, were three Newbury Park men who were digging up ancient Chumash graves and stealing cultural artifacts. It was sickening. These men were arrested and taken to jail for grave robbing and grand theft. Local archaeologists are helping the Sheriff’s Department with cataloging the looted artifacts that were recovered. These grave robbers have been active throughout the Ventura County region. We wouldn’t have caught them without alert farm workers. Arrested: Fredrick Villela, Noah Erickson, and John Watson.

Balcom Theft:

Suspects broke into a nursery using bolt cutters. They took a Honda generator and an air compressor.

Chain Saw Caper:

Last week a local nursery on Bradley Road had all their chain saws stolen. The suspects broke into a storage shed by cutting the lock. They stole numerous Stihl, Husquvarna and Poulan saws.

ATV Stolen:

Woolsey Canyon, Piru. A local ranch just had their quad taken yesterday. We will get more details for the next Farm Watch news.

Strawberry Thefts:

Our strawberry operations have been hit hard the last two weeks. Out on Las Posas and Hueneme area, crooks took a generator and cement mixer. They attempted to break into other farms in the area and were scared off by local farm workers.

Fruit Stands and Farmers Markets:

We have a counterfeit ring that is plaguing the entire Venture County. They are passing 100-dollar bills at fruit stands and farmers markets. They buy 10 or 15 dollars worth of produce and use fake $100 bills that look very real. The Secret Service has been notified. Be very leery of accepting these large bills, when feasible know your customers.

Beardsly Burglar:

Farm worker cars have been broken into along the Beardsly area.

Avocado Thefts:

There were about 1200 pounds of avocados stolen last week, stay vigilant and call in suspicious vehicles.

Saturday, March 20th, is the first day of Spring. Enjoy it and have a great weekend.

Be Safe Farm Watch,

Your friend

Tim