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Avocado Thieves Apprehended
By Ventura County Sheriff Department — Monday, March 7th, 2011
 Ventura County Sheriff's Department On March 4, 2011, at about 4PM, two males entered an orchard located near the 16000 block of South Mountain Road in Santa Paula. The suspects were in the process of stealing avocados and lemons when a local neighbor interrupted them. The neighbor left the area to contact the property owner. When the neighbor and the avocado rancher returned to the scene of the crime, the suspects had fled, but left the picked avocados and lemons behind. Detective Albert Ramirez responded to the scene. After completing the preliminary criminal investigation, he observed two male subjects walking on South Mountain Road who matched the description of the alleged thieves. The suspects were detained and arrested for the theft of avocados and citrus fruit. The suspects were identified as 26 year old Adrian Zavala Montiel and 41 year old Alejandro Ramos Pineda both from Santa Paula. This arrest was made possible due to the “Farm Watch,” partnership between the farming community and the Sheriff’s Office. Farm Watch is a county wide electronic neighborhood watch program that is distributed to more than 600 farms, ranches, nurseries, and supply houses. In this case, because of Farm Watch, the rancher knew how to react and treat the crime scene to preserve potential evidence for immediate processing by deputies of the Sheriff’s Office. Date: March 4, 2011 |
