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Suspects Arrested for Conspiracy to Commit Commercial Burglary
By Ventura County Sheriff Department — Wednesday, May 26th, 2010
 Ventura County Sheriff's Department On May 19, 2010, four suspects were arrested for felony conspiracy to commit a crime and commercial burglary in the City of Fillmore. The suspects belonged to a theft ring, which was responsible for stealing in excess of $21,000 in cash and property. The theft ring consisted of 2 to 6 suspects who would enter a store and intentionally distract a lone or multiple employees for the purposes of stealing their purses, cash from register, or monies kept near the register. Additionally, suspects would also steal merchandise if the opportunity allowed. The theft ring targeted businesses based on their research of the store to determine sales volume and the numbers of employees. The suspects would then determine the numbers of ring members were necessary to commit the crimes. The members of the ring would cause a distraction by luring the employee(s) toward the back of the store, usually with a request to have an item shown to them or explained to them how it worked. On one occasion, the suspects purposely broke a bottle in the back of the business, which caused the employee to respond to the spill and clean it up. Once the employee was lured to the back and distracted, the others then searched the front register area for items to steal. The group that committed the theft would then walk out of the store without being detected. The suspect(s) causing the distraction would eventually walk out of the store once the other suspects were safely out of the store. Business owners or employees would usually discover the thefts minutes or in some cases hours later. The following businesses, in the Fillmore area, reported thefts of this nature: The City of Oxnard also had 6 known cases involving this same method and with an estimated loss of over $20,000.00 dollars. The Oxnard businesses and Police Department began to network with Fillmore businesses and the Fillmore Police Department to determine possible suspects. On Wednesday, May 19, 2010, four suspects entered the 99 Cent Store in Fillmore and the owner recognized one of the suspects from a warning flier distributed by detectives. The owner immediately called police and the suspects were promptly arrested for burglary and conspiracy. Oxnard Detectives were also called to assist in the investigation and a coordinated investigation between the Fillmore Police and the Oxnard Police Department yielded conspiracy to commit a crime and commercial burglary charges against the group. The adult suspects were booked at the Ventura County Jail and the juvenile was lodged at the Juvenile Justice Center. Location: 703 Ventura Street, Fillmore, CA 93015 (S)uspects, Address Age Officer Preparing Release: Sergeant Wareham #2108 |
