Welcome to Farm Watch...
Who are we? Over 600 Ventura County farms, ranches, nurseries agriculture supply and packing houses.
Farm Watch is really more than that. We are a virtual-rural, crime fighting community. Welcome if you are just joining us. Lets catch up on the last few weeks:
STOLEN CAR:
A week ago, I attended an Agricultural Insectary meeting in Oxnard. I heard a story from a Santa Clara Valley farmer who told me about Sheriff's Deputy Leo Vazquez.
Leo patrols the rural area where the farmer lives and has orchards. He told me that a few days earlier he received a random call from Leo. The Deputy told him that he was currently out on patrol on the other side of Fillmore and noticed an unknown person with the farmer's vehicle. Leo was suspicious, as he had always seen the vehicle parked at the owner’s farm. A loud laugh broke out with the farmer as he told Leo that he had just sold the car. He wanted me to thank Leo for "Watching Out" for the rural residents and paying attention to such detail.
The story didn't end there. Unrelated, and the a few nights later, we were honored to present Leo with the Santa Clara Valley Officer of the Year Award. It is no coincidence that Leo is Officer of the Year. He is an example of his fellow deputies that share the same drive to keep our community safe. Drop Leo an E-note at Leonardo.Vazquez@ventura.org
Trail Heads:
Our Ojai Valley Crime Watch folks have asked us to spread the word. Visitors to the Los Padres Forest in the Matillja Canyon area have been plagued with window-smash car burglaries. The suspects are looting cars when they see any bags, purses and towels.
Remember, always try to minimize what you leave behind. Lock what you must in the trunk and never leave anything in the passenger areas that you don't want to lose. Crooks know that if you throw a jacket or towel over something on the seat its “gonna” be yummy for them.... They are the bear, and the jacket in the car is covering the picnic basket..
Connex Burglar:
Pleasant Valley Road, Camarillo. Nighttime burglaries of farms and ranches will always be a focus of Farm Watch crime prevention. Unknown burglars have hit the Oxnard plains late and night. They are continually cutting the locks off farm gates and chain link maintenance yards and then they enter the locked Connex boxes.
In late January, they stole 75 bags of Yara Fertilizer (10-30-20 and 20-3-30). We ask for you to keep your eyes open for Yara fertilizer being sold, farm side out of pick up trucks. Contact Ag Detective Ray Dominguez at Ray.dominguez@ventura.org if you have any tips of unregulated fertilizer sales.
Tragedy:
On January 27th, twenty-three old homicide victim George Huizar was found by deputies patrolling who were patrolling agricultural fields late at night in the Pleasant Valley area of the Oxnard plains. Huizar was found on a dirt path between two agricultural fields about 2:30 a.m. Homicide Detectives later found his car in the same general area.
The Camarillo Deputies are top notch. While the case was well covered in main stream media, what slipped through the reports was the fact that the these two graveyard shift deputies who discovered the victim were out there searching from farm to farm in the middle of the night, turning over stones, not looking for Huizar but looking for rural agriculture burglars.
On March 1st, we were shocked with another rural setting of a homicide. Deputies were called to a Somis area nursery. A known suspect had shot and killed victim Gilberto Aquilera after an ensuing argument. The two had a history of prior issues. Sheriff's Major Crimes Detectives were on the scene in minutes, located and arrested the suspect within five hours.
Counter Surveillance:
Not a K.G.B case, and not the kitchen counter. Burglars broke into a farm on Oak Street in the Santa Clara Valley. Entering late at night, they broke into the farm office and immediately took down the surveillance system. They stole the video camera recorder and other items from the office. Remember, Farm Watch encourages you to have video monitoring systems. Lock up the recorders and hide the camera lines where they can't get to them. We have seen some farmers actually lock up the computers and recorders in a ventilated safe or safe closet that would take hours to break into.
Todd Road Burglar:
The property is a ranch located west of Santa Paula. During the morning, witnesses noticed a suspicious white, pick up truck in the orchards. Later that morning they discovered that a ranch vehicle had been burglarized and a stereo missing. Sure seems like we always get a lot of reports of white trucks as suspect vehicles in our rural burglaries. Maybe the crooks prefer this color to blend in with our ranch trucks? Call in any suspicious vehicles you see cruising through farms. 805-524-2233
Water Thief:
As farmers, we know that water is everything. It is the key element of the success for our agricultural county. However, one has to get the water to the crops and orchards. Water pumps are the heartbeat.
These rural thieves know that. A local Santa Clara Valley Rancho had just installed a large water pump. Crooks came in during the middle of the night and laboriously unbolted it from the pump-pad and motor assembly. They cut the power line at the pole and went through a lot of work to get away.
We are looking for a Emerson-Peerless water pump, model R415/C620A. Lets help this farmer out....
Trailer Alarm:
The fact that a Howe Road rancher had an alarm on his parked, camping trailer helped minimize the loss when witnesses heard a burglar alarm sounding in the middle of the night. The suspects fled, but got away with a generator and television.
Sprinklers:
The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office Ag Crime Unit is seeking assistance in identifying the suspects responsible for the Grand Thefts of several thousand commercial “Rain Bird” brand sprinkler heads valued at over $119,000. Several Monterey County Ag businesses have reported the thefts of between 800-1400 sprinkler head thefts per incident from pipe yards or pipes lying in the fields during the last 4-5 weeks. The sprinkler heads are made from copper, bronze, brass and aluminum. We have attached a PDF Crime Watch Flyer from Monterey Sheriffs.
Telegraph Burglar:
Rural living has so many benefits. One is that we can notice even the smallest change in our environment. Sometimes it may be an unknown tire track in an orchard. A barn door that's never is normally left open.
I remember a few years back in our Farm Watch, that we reported about a Bardsdale farmer who, mid-day had returned from town and sensed that someone was in their farmhouse. They yelled out and sure enough two burglars ran out the back door.
They were caught by deputies and the farmer's six-sense that rural life propagates.
Recently, a rancher on Telegraph Road noticed very subtle pry marks on a windowsill. Looking further he noticed some windows that were slightly ajar. Digging even deeper, it became obvious that some money was stolen from inside the house.
It appears that the suspects entered and exited the house undetected, stole the money and covered their tracks.
In this case, the farmer used their Farm Watch experience and helped us detect the crime. We are still looking for a suspect.
Hey, we just thought of a great, new television show, "Farm Watch C.S.I"
Dirty Devils:
Out on the Oxnard Plains, some thugs took it to a new level. Dirty level that is. They broke into a municipal water plant area and dug up 40 feet of copper wire used by the plant. We don't know who did, but look for the dirty devils..
Fruit Thief Triathalon:
A new category of sport. Maybe we can get it in the next summer Olympics? Deputy Grant and Lopez were working patrol when they were flagged down by an avocado farmer. He told them about a suspicious man seen in their orchard.
Seems that 24 year-old avocado thief Miguel Meza, pruners in hand, was in an orchard loading up a duffle bag of 50 pounds of avocados.
So the race begins. Deputies snuck up on an adult male accomplice in the orchard. He had his get-a-way car hidden in the rows. Grant and Lopez responded K-9 teams and set up a dragnet around the large farm. The race for the two crooks began. The prize was escape...
Wrong! Deputy Grant located Meza hiding by the get-a-way car. He was arrested and booked in jail for avocado theft. Meza’s race prize is a peanut butter sandwich in his jail cell. Great work by both our Farm Watch member and the deputies.
Car Jacking:
A local resident was driving a recently purchased, used pick up truck along Highway 126 between Fillmore and Santa Paula. It was 4:00 in the afternoon. The driver heard a mechanical problem under the truck and pulled over to fix it. Moments later a car pulled up behind him. The driver at first thought is was a helping motorist. Not so, a Hispanic male suspect approached our victim from what may have been a Ford Fusion or something close to that. It was Tan in color.
He was Spanish speaking and had tattoos on his neck. He pulled a knife out and demanded the victim’s truck and all the personal property.
The suspect fled the scene in the victim's truck and the tan car followed with an unknown accomplice. Folks, remember what we have talked about in Farm Watch. This is the third incident in a year of similar circumstances in Ventura County. Always be careful...
Lojack to the Rescue:
A Santa Rosa Valley resident had adjoining outbuilding broken into. The burglar stole a laptop. Unknown to the suspect, was that the fact that the laptop was outfitted with a G.P.S Lojack system. Oops! bad day for the burglar. Moorpark Sheriff Detectives worked on the case and were able to use Lojack to locate the suspect in Ventura.
32 year-old Arnold Ikeda was tracked to a hotel and arrested for possession of the stolen computer and numerous drug-sales charges. What a great resolve for the victim and excellent police work by the detectives.
Diesel Theft:
Prices are going through the roof. A local farming operation in the Hueneme Road area recently had their diesel tank broken into and the thieves stole 1400 gallons of fuel. Camarillo Detectives warn us to watch out for vans and small tank trucks moving around farm areas late at night. We have to be ready for this to be the next rural-theft trend.
Craigslist:
This could be a sole crime prevention topic every two weeks. We constantly monitor for stolen equipment in "Farm and Materials" sections of Craigslist. What has occurred over the last 12 months is now viral.
These classified areas are filled with rampant fraudulent ads. The majority of farm equipment listed is non-existent and many sellers of farm utility vehicles, tractors, ranch quads are organized crime trying to get you to respond to their ads. Once you respond, they bait you into shady deals of money wires, emails and confidence schemes. Don't fall for it.
Hey, how do I avoid being a victim, I love the farm equipment deals on Craigslist?
Simple, insist to meet with the seller, here local, with the product. Don't get involved in the drama of emails back and forth with them. The fact is most of these crooks e-chatting with you are not even in the country. They get a local telephone number to make you feel safe. Where the scam falls apart is if you demand to see the listed equipment here at their local residence or local business in Ventura County. Not in a fast food parking lot.
Legitimate sellers will be obvious and established. Be careful folks, remember our Farm Watch “Craigslist rule.” If it seems to good to be true, too cheap or too much drama meeting with the seller, its likely a scam.
Those teeth are Sharp
The Ventura County Sheriff’s K-9 Unit is co-sponsoring a fundraising event at the Camarillo Ranch House on Saturday, April 2, from 3 PM to 8 PM. The Sheriff’s Department’s entire K-9 program is mostly funded through generous donations. The proceeds from the K-9 dinner will go to the Sheriff K-9 Unit, Sheriff Search and Rescue K-9 Unit and the National Police Dog Foundation, which helps all the police agencies in the county with their K-9 units.
This is a worthwhile event and please consider spending the afternoon or evening with the K-9 first responders and their handlers. Many K-9 Deputies will have stories to share of using their dogs in catching rural thieves in our farms, nurseries and orchards.
DIRECT T.V:
BARDSDALE: – At 11 in the morning a Direct TV service technician advised that a suspect tried to steal items from the service truck. The technician was parked in a rural farm area working on the satellite equipment. An unknown male suspect entered the van. The technician observed the thief rummaging in the Direct T.V van. Confronted, the suspect fled on foot and was not located. It is amazing how bold some crooks will get.
Bike Race:
May 22, the Amgen Tour of California World Bike Race will pass through our rural areas of the Santa Clara and Las Posas Valleys (Guiberson, South Mountain, Upper and lower Balcom, Stockton etc). We don't anticipate any issues and you certainly can come out and enjoy watching these Olympic athletes. Get the route and times at their website is: www.amgentourofcalifornia.com
Bird Fighting:
Last week Deputies received a mid day call about a cockfight operation in a rural area at the 1700 block of Grimes Canyon. Deputies responded and found about 15 dead roosters and more than 70 live, fighting birds.
It appeared to deputies that the owners of the birds departed just before we got our deputies on scene. Bird fights are illegal, inhumane and often involve other crimes and illegal activities.
The dead birds that we found still had sharp killing razor blades attached to their feet that are usually used in the fighting.
We need your help with any tips. No one was arrested yet and an investigation is ongoing. Animal Control officials were called to help care for the 70 plus live birds. Our detectives are asking anyone with information to call 477-7000.