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Gang members apprehended after series of home burglaries
By Ventura County Sheriff Department — Thursday, March 3rd, 2011
 Ventura County Sheriff's Department It all starts innocently enough with a knock at the front door of your house. The caller waits patiently and is prepared, whether you answer the door or not. If you answer, he’ll be ready to say he came to the wrong house, or was looking for a friend, or perhaps for his lost dog. If there is no answer, he will violate your very sense of safety and security when he enters your home and separates you from your most valuable possessions. Your jewelry will likely be long gone by the time you discover someone has been in your house. This is the way most residential burglaries begin. Since September 2010, there have been numerous residential burglaries in northern Thousand Oaks along the Avenida de los Arboles corridor. Victims have suffered substantial losses of property, including expensive jewelry, firearms, large televisions and computers. Few clues had been left behind, frustrating victims and investigators. However, on November 10, 2010, Julio Cesar Chavez, a gang member from Pacoima, was careless enough to leave blood evidence inside two different houses on the same day. The blood samples were analyzed by scientists at the crime lab and matched to Chavez, who was unknown to local investigators prior to this series of burglaries. However, Chavez had prior arrests for crimes he committed in Los Angeles County, and his DNA profile had already been entered in a California Department of Justice database. On Monday, Feb. 28, 2011, Chavez returned to Thousand Oaks with Alfredo Gutierrez and Henry Ramirez, who are also gang members from the San Fernando Valley. The trio committed a burglary in the 2700-block of Calle Olivo just after 11:00 a.m. However, they didn’t anticipate the homeowner returning for lunch at 11:05 a.m. In the chaotic exodus that ensued, the suspects separated as they fled. Gutierrez was apprehended by a Sheriff’s Office K-9 in the backyard of a nearby house, while Ramirez was found casually walking down Erbes Road. Chavez fled in a vehicle, but was caught the next day on Mar. 1, 2011 outside an apartment complex in North Hills. All are in custody and have been charged with residential burglary. Unfortunately, searches of their homes have not yielded much of the property they have been stealing from local residents. Another group of burglars, this one from an Oxnard street gang, has also been active in Thousand Oaks and Moorpark, and has been linked to residential burglaries dating back to 2009. Some recent activity by Daniel Rivera, Karen Fernandez, Deanna Rodriguez, and Jazmin Sarabia has led to their arrests on charges of receiving stolen property. These investigations have involved the work of several specialized units within the Office of the Sheriff, as well as members of allied agencies within and outside of Ventura County. Teams of investigators have spent many hours on surveillance operations, search warrants, pawnshop checks and probation and parole searches that have led to the recovery of some of the valuable property these groups have stolen. These cases illustrate the need for members of the community to be vigilant and to report any suspicious activity in their neighborhoods. Location: Various locations in the northern portion of Thousand Oaks |
