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Two Suspects Arrested in Organized Retail Theft of Fillmore Dollar General
By Ventura County Sheriff Department — Thursday, June 13th, 2024
n collaboration with Farm Watch, the Fillmore Bureau of Investigation communicated crime trends identified from recent agricultural thefts occurring in the Santa Clara Valley. Empowering the agricultural community as our eyes and ears has contributed to the apprehension of an agricultural theft group. On 06/09/2024, deputies assigned to the Fillmore Patrol Station responded to a call-for-service at a local ranch reference an avocado theft. The reporting party provided Sheriff’s Dispatch detailed information, which led to patrol resources locating the suspect vehicle fleeing the area. An enforcement stop was conducted on the vehicle, which was determined to be occupied by several individuals; all of which resided out of the area in Norwalk, CA. A search of the vehicle resulted in the recovery of hundreds of pounds of stolen avocados. David Melchor, Jesus Pozos, Valentin Pozos, and Epifania Pozos were arrested for felonious violations of Penal Code § 487(b)(1)(a) – [Agricultural Grand Theft] and 182(a)(1) – [Criminal Conspiracy]. They were also arrested for Penal Code § 602.8(a) – [Trespassing]. The stolen avocados were returned to the ranch while all four subjects were booked at the Ventura County Pre-Trial Detention Facility pending court proceedings. The Fillmore Patrol Station encourages the agricultural community to utilize “Farm Watch,” a partnership between the farming community and the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office. Farm Watch is a county-wide electronic neighborhood watch program that is distributed to more than several hundred farms, ranches, nurseries, and supply houses. This program provides information to ranchers on agriculture crime trends and on how to react and treat the crime scene so that potential evidence is preserved for immediate processing by deputies of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office. Report Number: 24-70748 (S)uspects: (S) David Melchor Norwalk, CA 18 Prepared by: Sergeant Jarrod Foote |
