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This article appeared in the local paper here. This is JR's town.
Police hoping to nab thieves instead find good Samaritans
Honesty foils car theft sting operation
By Teresa Rochester
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
The bait was tempting: a nondescript, unlocked rental car, parked in the lots of busy shopping centers in Thousand Oaks at the height of the holiday shopping season, with high-end electronics left in plain sight.
For three days the Ventura County Sheriff's Department watched and waited.
No one took the bait.
"We really expected sometime in the three days we would have one or more people we would be arresting," Senior Officer Eric Buschow, a detective and spokesman with the Sheriff's Department, said Monday. "There were people that looked really hard, lingered around like they were contemplating taking things but didn't."
Instead, what officers found in their sting operation was no shortage of good Samaritans who locked the car, shut the trunk or in one case went into the store to have someone call the police.
"If we weren't trying to do this covertly, I would have gone up and thanked people," Buschow said. "It's great they got involved and cared enough to do that."
The sting took place Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of last week. This time of the year, thefts from unlocked vehicles increase and have been a problem throughout Ventura County. Thousand Oaks saw a spike in these types of crimes last fall.
On the first day of the sting, Buschow said he had to unlock the car multiple times, thanks to the good deeds of others.
Previous stings have resulted in the arrests of thieves.
It wasn't like police weren't trying to make it as enticing as possible: They left the car's trunk open and car windows down at times. The vehicle was left outside of Best Buy on Moorpark Road, the Janss Marketplace and The Oaks mall.
The stuff left in the car was worth enough to trigger a felony charge if anyone took the bait.
Buschow says the unsuccessful sting illustrates the majority of people would not take advantage of the opportunity to create crime. Timing and luck also had a role.
"Pinpointing that spot and dangling that carrot in front of the small population that would do it is hard," Buschow said. "There is a certain amount of luck in this."
Cars are broken into frequently, especially when items such as cell phones, portable GPS systems and MP3 players are inside. Recently, a resident had two laptops stolen from his vehicle.
"This is going on in all communities," Buschow said. "We don't have the corner on this market. There is an opportunistic population out there and they are doing very well."
© 2007 Ventura County Star
Best Christmas Story I've heard this year.
Steve
Police hoping to nab thieves instead find good Samaritans
Honesty foils car theft sting operation
By Teresa Rochester
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
The bait was tempting: a nondescript, unlocked rental car, parked in the lots of busy shopping centers in Thousand Oaks at the height of the holiday shopping season, with high-end electronics left in plain sight.
For three days the Ventura County Sheriff's Department watched and waited.
No one took the bait.
"We really expected sometime in the three days we would have one or more people we would be arresting," Senior Officer Eric Buschow, a detective and spokesman with the Sheriff's Department, said Monday. "There were people that looked really hard, lingered around like they were contemplating taking things but didn't."
Instead, what officers found in their sting operation was no shortage of good Samaritans who locked the car, shut the trunk or in one case went into the store to have someone call the police.
"If we weren't trying to do this covertly, I would have gone up and thanked people," Buschow said. "It's great they got involved and cared enough to do that."
The sting took place Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of last week. This time of the year, thefts from unlocked vehicles increase and have been a problem throughout Ventura County. Thousand Oaks saw a spike in these types of crimes last fall.
On the first day of the sting, Buschow said he had to unlock the car multiple times, thanks to the good deeds of others.
Previous stings have resulted in the arrests of thieves.
It wasn't like police weren't trying to make it as enticing as possible: They left the car's trunk open and car windows down at times. The vehicle was left outside of Best Buy on Moorpark Road, the Janss Marketplace and The Oaks mall.
The stuff left in the car was worth enough to trigger a felony charge if anyone took the bait.
Buschow says the unsuccessful sting illustrates the majority of people would not take advantage of the opportunity to create crime. Timing and luck also had a role.
"Pinpointing that spot and dangling that carrot in front of the small population that would do it is hard," Buschow said. "There is a certain amount of luck in this."
Cars are broken into frequently, especially when items such as cell phones, portable GPS systems and MP3 players are inside. Recently, a resident had two laptops stolen from his vehicle.
"This is going on in all communities," Buschow said. "We don't have the corner on this market. There is an opportunistic population out there and they are doing very well."
© 2007 Ventura County Star
Best Christmas Story I've heard this year.
Steve
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