PRESS RELEASE
Ventura County Sheriff’s Office
On 4/1/21, Thousand Oaks deputies and detectives arrested a male juvenile for residential burglary. Â
The investigation began in mid-March when $40,000 worth of jewelry was stolen from a Thousand Oaks home during an open house showing. The home for sale was worth millions of dollars and an appointment and financial paperwork were required to secure a reservation to tour the home. The suspect arrived and appeared young and seemed out of place. The suspect was left alone to walk through the house and after his departure, it was discovered the victim’s jewelry had been stolen.
According to the victim, the suspect claimed to be 23-years-old and had a letter indicating he had access to millions of dollars. The language he used during their conversations indicated he was familiar with buying and selling high-end homes and comfortable with discussing money and other investments. Detectives learned the suspect had viewed multiple other homes in the area under the same false pretenses, but he was not left alone in the homes and no crimes were reported.
At the culmination of the investigation, detectives served a search warrant at the juvenile’s home in Camarillo. Several pieces of high dollar jewelry were recovered in addition to two lists the suspect maintained of numerous million dollar homes and yachts he had visited. Â
The sixteen-year-old suspect was arrested and booked at the Juvenile Justice Center with a court date to be set.Â
It is believed the suspect has been going to open houses since October of 2020, and has viewed homes in Camarillo, Thousand Oaks, Santa Rosa, Oxnard and Malibu. The yachts were in Marina Del Rey, Newport Beach and Channel Islands, San Diego and Morro Bay. If you believe the suspect visited your home or yacht under similar circumstances, please contact Detective Rico Rinaldi at (805) 494-8226.
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A young version of “Catch Me if You Can”