Ventura County Sheriff – Incident Press Release
Deputies arrested two juvenile males involved in organized retail theft after a high-speed pursuit from Moorpark to Thousand Oaks.
On 11-30-20, at approximately 2:57 p.m., the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office received a call regarding a theft of alcohol in progress at the Vons Supermarket located in the 4200 block of Tierra Rejada Road in the city of Moorpark. The reporting party stated two males had loaded a shopping cart full of liquor bottles and had exited the store without paying. An additional witness provided a description of the suspect’s vehicle which was seen leaving the area on Tierra Rejada Road.
Minutes later, Moorpark deputies located the suspect vehicle driving on Tierra Rejada Road near Sunset Valley Road and they attempted to conduct an enforcement stop of the vehicle to investigate the theft. The driver initially yielded but then quickly sped away at a high rate of speed. Deputies initiated a vehicle pursuit which entered the southbound 23 Freeway toward the city of Thousand Oaks. Shortly after the initiation of the pursuit, deputies learned the suspect vehicle had been involved in an unrelated strongarm robbery that occurred in the city of Huntington Beach on 11-29-20.
Throughout the approximately six-minute pursuit, the suspect vehicle maintained high speeds and drove across all lanes, weaving through afternoon freeway traffic. As the suspect vehicle approached the Avenida de los Arboles off-ramp, it lost control in the center median and collided with a metal guard rail. The suspect vehicle became disabled and both suspects fled on foot, running across the northbound lanes of traffic.
Through a coordinated effort between deputies of the Moorpark and Thousand Oaks patrol stations, the suspects were quickly located hiding in the rear yard of a residence in the 1700 block of Burning Tree Avenue. One suspect was identified as a 17-year old male from the city of South Gate. The second suspect was identified as a 17-year old reported runaway from the city of Pomona.
The investigation into this incident has revealed these two suspects were responsible for organized retail thefts of alcohol from at least three supermarkets in Ventura County. The juveniles were lodged into the Ventura County Juvenile Justice Center and will face charges related to the thefts and vehicle pursuit in juvenile court.
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