Our rural community of 600+ farms, ranches, supply and packing houses, nurseries and oil fields.
Keeping one another safe in rural Ventura County!

It's Sunday at noon and a perfect time to write Farm Watch. We are getting a light rain that will be perfect for our Ag Community.

As we look at our mild weather in February and a possible early Spring, we need to think about what the "Ag Crooks" are thinking about. We have to stay one step ahead of them.

Early Spring means, soil temperatures rising and fertilizer applications kicking in. Last year we lost a record amount of fertilizer by crooks stealing thousands of pounds of fertilizer from farms, County-wide. Sometimes they would take 2-3 thousand pounds in a night.

Remember, Agriculture Detective Ray Dominguez ask you to not keep-long term storage of bagged fertilizer in the field-side chain link yards. Try to get the delivery timely with the application. We know it is not always possible, but be on alert.

GOOD NEWS:
As you recall on April 17th, 2010, Sheriff Gang Deputies Bill Meixner and Beau Rodriguez were involved in a near-death patrol car crash on Highway 126 east of Santa Paula. They were both severely critically injured and each spent nearly a month in the hospital and eight months in physical therapy. Beau has just returned to work two weeks ago and typical “Beau,” he set out as active as ever combating gangs in Ventura County. Bill Meixner is starting back to work in a few weeks. We can’t wait for Bill to be back. If you get a chance and welcome them back: beau.Rodriguez@ventura.org and Bill.meixner@ventura.org

EXPLORERS:
Before, I forget, a big congratulations to our Sheriff's Teen Explorers who all went to Arizona and competed against explorers from all over the western USA. We are proud to report that our boys and girls from all over our Ventura County rural communities won many awards and had a great time. These kids are our future leaders in our communities and we should all be proud..

Young Farmers & Ranchers:
A shout out to our young farmers and ranchers in Ventura County. These young men and women are teen and young adult leaders that have decided to start a non-profit Santa Maria Style cater business to help fund their farm leadership activities. If you are having a get-together, give them some consideration to cater your barbeque. Along with 4-H , F.F.A and E.T.I, we need to support our young adults who strive to make our rural life better. You can get a hold of the young ranchers at Yfandr.vc@gmail.com or the Farm Bureau.

MIDNIGHT BANDITS:
West Fillmore Area. During the middle of the night unknown suspects forced open an exterior door to a farmer's market warehouse then pried open an interior door leading to the farm office. The crooks made off with computer, cash, video and other valuables. They attempted to destroy the cameras that were in place and attempted to steal the video recorder system. Make sure that you lock up your video recorder or computer that is recording, in a safe room or hidden where they can't just follow the security camera cords in the barns and shops..

RECYCLERS:
A Farm Watch member called in a suspicious car on Telegraph Road in the Santa Clara valley. The car was a brown, Honda Civic. When confronted, the two males inside said they were looking for abandoned scrap metal along the highway. Remember, metal scrappers that trespass along your farm or ranch often will say they have permission from an unknown neighbor and act lost. Call us when you see suspicious metal scrapper activity. We want to check their property and see if they are legitimate.

ASSAULTS:
If you take a peak at the attached Farm crime trend report you will see an increase in rural assaults. Almost all of these are domestic violence incidents in rural settings. Make sure you encourage your farm or ranch employees to call 911 if they hear a caretakers or employee fights going on. Research has shown that if you call us early we can intervene before violence occurs and help get resources and counselors. Our deputies are trained extensively in crisis intervention with a goal of stopping the violence peacefully while it is still verbal.

BROADWAY BANDITS:
No, its not a play at 52nd street in N.Y.C. The Las Posas Valley was hit by a burglar that broke into a farm on Broadway. The suspect cut fences and padlocks to enter the area and took a chain saw and other property. It looks like the suspect used an ATV for the escape.

HOT BURG:
Extra cheese, mayo and hold the onions. Sounds like a great meal but in this case it is police jargon for what a Wood Road farmer was woken up in the middle of the night by a burglar inside his residence. The ultimate dangerous situation, a "Hot Burg" occurs when a bold crook enters an occupied house at night. The farmer confronted the suspect inside the house and defended himself with a gun. One shaken up burglar escaped in his car after the altercation. Needless to say the farmer was uninjured.

SCHOOL BURGLARY:
Actually, School Canyon in the West County. late at night, some unknown crooks broke the locks of the victim's connex boxes that were storing tools for the property. They got away with many hand tools. Don't forget to try to park trucks and tractors in front of the connex box doors at night.

Santa Rosa Burglar:
2000 block Gerry Road. This area is a rural farm and ranch area. A farm house was broken into and ransacked. All kinds of personal property was taken. Witnesses did see a suspicious white, two-door Nissan in the area. If you have any information that may help detectives, contact detective John.reilly@ventura.org

Rural Road Rage:
I want you to know this is a true story. It occurred on January 13. Seems a local rancher was out for ride in his horse carriage along South Mountain Road. A car passed by very close and shook up horses. The driver of the car jumped out with an accomplice after words were exchanged. The passenger of the car pulled out a knife and threatened the carriage driver. The carriage fled at a canter, or trot gate, not sure which. The suspects were in chase. The carriage driver was then confronted by the knife welding suspect who had also acquired a bat. Fillmore Deputies responded with 308 horses of Ford power (Ford Crown Victoria) and apprehended the male suspect who was arrested for the threats. Case closed for now. True Story....

Rolling Raspberry:
Suspects broke into a raspberry farm along Wolff Road and stole $2,000 worth of raspberry plastic rolling. Again they took it off of the pallets.

OJAI SANTA PAULA:
13,000 block of Ojai Santa Paula Road. An unknown suspect broke into the ranch shop and office. The crook stole 3 laptops, printers, fax machines. Remember, crooks know that rural ranch offices are easy targets. Contact me by email and we will send a deputy to your ranch and do a security survey. We can recommend simple steps to "harden" the ranch or farm office and make theft much more difficult.

T-Moblie
T-Mobile reported that suspects entered a cell phone tower area off of Gonzales Avenue in the Oxnard Plains. The suspects stole rolls of copper wire after cutting away at the fence. we know this wire will either end up on Craigs-List or at a recycle center. If you have any information contact detective Ray Domiguez. ray.dominguez@ventura.org

SCAM SPAM:
Person calling says - 'This is (name), and I'm calling from the Security and Fraud Department at VISA. My Badge number is 12460, Your card has been flagged for an unusual purchase pattern, and I'm calling to verify. This would be on your VISA card which was issued by (name of bank). Did you purchase an Anti-Telemarketing Device for $497.99 from a marketing company based in Arizona ?' When you say 'No', the caller continues with, 'Then we will be issuing a credit to your account. This is a company we have been watching and the charges range from $297 to $497, just under the $500 purchase pattern that flags most cards. Before your next statement, the credit will be sent to (gives you your address), is that correct?' You say 'yes'
The caller continues - 'I will be starting a Fraud Investigation. If you have any questions, you should call the 1- 800 number listed on the back of your card (1-800-VISA) and ask for Security. You will need to refer to this Control Number. The caller then gives you a 6 digit number. 'Do you need me to read it again?
Here's the IMPORTANT part on how the scam works - The caller then says, 'I need to verify you are in possession of your card'. He'll ask you to 'turn your card over and look for some numbers'. There are 7 numbers; the first 4 are part of your card number, the last 3 are the Security Numbers that verify you are the possessor of the card. These are the numbers you sometimes use to make Internet purchases to prove you have the card. The caller will ask you to read the last 3 numbers to him. After you tell the caller the 3 numbers, he'll say, 'That is correct, I just needed to verify that the card has not been lost or stolen, and that you still have your card. Do you have any other questions?'

Las Posas:
Camarillo: Agricultural Burglary - 3000 block E. Pleasant Valley Rd. Unknown suspect(s) used bolt cutters to open two connex boxes then removed fertilizer and other equipment during the night. C.S.I was on scene shortly thereafter and recovered evidence left behind. Remind your foremen to preserve the Agricultural crime scene for our C.S.I Unit as you will see how important it is when we discuss it in the Thorny Robber case.

COUNTER WEIGHT:
Wikepedia defines it as "the expected load multiplied by the distance that load will be spaced from the central support (called the "tipping point") must be equal to the counterweight's mass times its distance from the tipping point in order to prevent over-balancing either side." Okay have your Farm Watch eyes rolled back in your head with painful memories of algebra? Bottom line: Counter weights are very important to our oil field pumps. You see them moving up and down along pumps all over Ventura County. Crooks know that they are also valuable. So a few bad guys used a skip loader, truck and trailer and then dressed up as oil field repairmen. they hit a oil field in the Santa Paula area at 5 in the morning. The began stealing the giant counter weights. They almost got away with it except for Farm Watch, or better yet a Farm Watch resident who was well aware of the local oil field workers and recognized the fact that these guys were strangers in unmarked trucks. Strike one for crooks.. Our "farm watcher" called 911 and we rolled out to help. The suspects fled in the tractor and truck (without the property). We have a description of a dark colored full size pick up truck with a partial plate of 2611. The tractor may have been a "Case -480." The Sheriff's helicopter helped out by searching the area but the suspects had fled. We want to thank you, as a Farm Watch member for calling in. You know who you are.

THORNY PATCH MANHUNT:
Back in July, a female employee was robbed and falsely imprisoned while working alone at the Cactus Mart Nursery on Howe Road in Piru.
I am sure you have seen the unique nursery whiled riving down the 126. When the robbery occurred, the two males entered the nursery office, demanded money, pointed a handgun at the employee and bound the her wrists and ankles with duct tape. The suspects fled on foot with the money.
The nursery victim was able to free herself and call 911.
Sergeant Bill Schierman and his Sheriff’s Gang Unit responded and used our Sheriff C.S.I Unit to extract DNA from the crime scene. Ventura Sheriff Scientist submitted the DNA profile to the F.B.I and were notified the DNA belonged to 27 year old Juan Acevedo a state prisoner. After identifying Acevedo as a suspect in the Cactus Mart robbery, gang investigators were able to collect additional evidence that linked three other suspects to the robbery. They were identified as 21-year-old Carina Licea, 20-year-old Alexandria Zambrano and 25-year-old Juan Vasquez. Bill's A-Team of gang investigators were able to track Carina Licea and Juan Vasquez to a residence in Buckeye, Arizona. The Arizona Buckeye Police Department SWAT team took Vasquez and Licea into custody. Vasquez was transported back to the California Department of Corrections and Licea was transported to the Ventura County Jail. After the arrests and during interviews with the crooks, detectives found out that during the robbery, Vasquez had orginally pre-determined to shoot the girl, but decided not to shoot the victim as initially planned. A dangerous criminal ring was put into prison by a group of great Sheriff's Scientists and team of hard charging detectives led by Sergeant Bill Schierman.
Remember, Stay Safe Farm Watch,
Capt. Tim Hagel