FARM WATCH: JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2012 ISSUE
WELCOME FARM WATCH READERS!

I am pleased to report that this edition of Farm Watch has a bit of good news to share given the multiple arrests made county-wide for metal thefts. The overall crime rate for this period vs. the same time period last year shows a decrease.

Below is just an example of some fine team work with our deputies and ranch employees:

On February 7th Deputy Peterson (Fillmore Police and Sheriff) made an arrest involving a copper wire theft / trespassing. Employees at a ranch on the 3700 block of Sycamore Road in Fillmore observed 2 subjects on the property stealing a 40' long power cord comprised of copper wire. The employees confronted the subjects and the subjects dropped the power cord and fled in a white older model Toyota pickup truck (License 6L08685 / CA). The employees called dispatch and gave a description of the vehicle (including the license plate number) and the subjects, as the employees tried to follow the subjects on the SR 126. Because of morning traffic on the SR 126, the employees were not able to continue following the Toyota as it drove westbound.

Sgt. Juan Ponce of our Ventura Station ultimately located the Toyota pickup truck in the rear yard at 11396 Nardo Street in Saticoy. One subject that Sgt. Ponce was able to identify fled on foot, but he was able to detain the other suspect.

Deputy Peterson did an in-field lineup and the employees for this Ranch were able to positively identify the subject detained as the person that was stealing the power cord and driving the white Toyota pickup truck. The suspect was arrested and booked at our Main Jail in Ventura. GREAT WORK BY ALL!!

Because of the observant employees, their quick response, and detailed reporting of the incident (Toyota truck license plate number and suspects descriptions) to dispatch, deputies were able to locate and arrest one of the suspects and identify the second. This was a job well done by all involved (law enforcement and witnesses / victims).

As a solid reminder for everyone, with quick and detailed reporting we can and will catch the thieves.

This is prime avocado season and the thieves are out and about. The unincorporated areas all around the county have been hit. Please call in suspicious vehicles, persons, oddities, etc. so we can respond. Some of our deputies did catch a few avocado thieves, however, there were far more thefts than arrests in this crucial area.

Agricultural Crimes Detective Ray Dominguez had the following to add to this edition of Farm Watch:

Strawberry growing season is in full swing and over the past couple of weeks several pesticide thefts have been reported at local farms in the Camarillo and Oxnard areas. Historically, thieves begin targeting local farms at this time of year to steal materials that are both expensive and in high demand on the black market. The materials stolen commonly include pesticides, fertilizer, drip tape, and other equipment used in berry production. The thefts typically occur at night, and often get reported following a long holiday weekend, as thieves know that farm crews may not be working and the theft will go undetected for several days. I’ve also found that these thefts occur within a few days of the product being delivered to the farm.

Investigating these thefts can be challenging as many of these products are not marked for identification and can easily be transferred to other unmarked containers to hide the contents. I’ve also found on occasion that victim’s suspect their own employees of providing information or actively participating in the theft, as they are intimately familiar with the farm operation. The fact that many farms share access to the property with their neighbors makes it difficult to track activity on the farm as different growers have varying schedules for their employees and people are constantly coming and going.

I suggest you consider taking the following steps to help protect your farm from theft:

Maintain all fences and keep gates locked.
Secure and lock all windows and doors.
Install motion detector lights and a security alarm system.
Secure all equipment, including vehicles, and store in a visible, well lit area.
Be aware of and report suspicious persons and vehicles to local Law Enforcement.
Frequently patrol your property.
Know your employees, provide them with ID cards and educate them about crime prevention.
Limit employee access to buildings, equipment, chemicals and other valuables.
Know your neighbors and encourage them to report suspicious activities.
Mark all valuable property with your Owner Applied Number or other identifying marks.
Order only what you need and don’t stockpile materials on your farm.
Contact your supplier and ask if they will agree to accept returns of excess unopened product and credit your account.
Pick up your own orders at the supplier and avoid deliveries directly to the farm. If a delivery needs to be made, schedule to meet the delivery driver at a location away from the farm, and use the product immediately upon delivery to avoid overnight storage.
If you must keep material on hand, store it at an off-site location and move your inventory around so as to avoid storing it at one location for an extended period of time.
Use hardened locks to secure storage sheds and containers. Park heavy equipment in front of storage sheds / containers to barricade the doors.

In addition to chemical thefts, we have started seeing avocado thefts on the rise with reports of several petty thefts and one grand theft from the Santa Paula / Fillmore area. Kudos to the Fillmore Station deputies as they have made a couple of arrests in connection with the petty thefts, but no suspect(s) have been identified in the grand theft.

This leads me to comment on another avocado theft just reported in the Moorpark area that occurred on the evening of February 20th in which a property owner was attempting to protect his property. I can’t get into the details of this case as it is actively being investigated by the Sheriff’s Office. What I can share are some words of wisdom about how you should handle this type of situation. I want to emphasize that you should avoid confronting suspects on your own and only serve as a good witness. This incident highlights the fact that you just never know who you will encounter on your property, and the lengths suspects will go to avoid capture. I highly recommend that you use the guidelines listed below if you observe a crime in progress:

Call the Sheriff’s Office immediately at 911.
Be a good witness
Note suspect descriptions such as age, height, weight, facial hair, clothing, and shoe type.
If a vehicle is involved, obtain a license plate number and note vehicle color, body damage, bumper stickers, camper shell, after market tires and wheels, etc.
Provide the dispatcher with information about the time and last known direction of travel.

Following these guidelines will help keep you safe and provide important information to responding deputies in a timely manner.

Remember property can be replaced…lives can’t!

Be smart and stay safe,

Detective Ray Dominguez

Ventura County Sheriff’s Office – Agricultural Crimes Unit

Great words of advice from Ray.....

Also as a reminder: Please mark your equipment for identification. Please preserve the crime scene by keeping employees and vehicles out of the area until deputies arrive to process the scene. Please report criminal activity as soon as possible to increase the probability of recovering stolen

If you are not sure of how to address the problem or would like additional crime prevention tips please contact your local Sheriff’s Office substation or Detective Ray Dominguez directly at (805) 477-7029 or by email at ray.dominguez@ventura.org.

Contacts:

Fillmore Detective Darin Hendren darin.hendrin@ventura.org or 524-2235 Ventura Detective Christine Rettura Christine.rettura@ventura.org 662- 6770

Agricultural Crimes Detective, Ray Dominguez at Ray.Dominguez@ventura.org

As always, we would like to thank Sheriff’s Crime Analyst Karen Brown who puts together your maps and digests all the crime data along with Det. Ray Dominguez who assists with the crime summaries.

Be alert and always safe!

Monica (797-6338)

Geoff Dean - Sheriff
John Crombach and Gary Pentis - Assistant Sheriffs