Roundup: Fillmore girl reports suspicious man in van, more local news
Here's a roundup of recent incidents and announcements from Ventura County agencies:
Authorities look for suspicious van
FILLMORE – Authorities in Fillmore beefed-up presence at schools around the city Thursday afternoon as they investigated a report of a man who allegedly tried to get a girl to come near his van earlier this week.
The incident, reported late Wednesday afternoon, took place Monday afternoon, according to the Ventura County Sheriff's Office, which is contracted to provide police services in Fillmore.
A girl, 10, told authorities she had been walking home from school Monday. Between 2:45 p.m. and 3 p.m., when she was near Central Avenue and Second Street, a man she didn't know tried to get her to approach his van, officials said.
She described the van as an older, white, full-size model with no windows and stock rims. The man was described as light-skinned with brown eyes, long black hair, an earring in his right ear and wearing a long-sleeve black shirt or sweater with holes at the sleeve ends.
Sheriff's investigators have been working in cooperation with the Fillmore Unified School District since the report came in, officials said.
The school district sent a tweet Thursday afternoon after the sheriff's release was issued.
"We are working in cooperation with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department and will also have staff posted visibly outside of each school site," the district said in the tweet.
Sheriff's Detective Shawn Pewsey said the department had extra patrol deputies around school sites as students were released for the day.
Investigators were working to find evidence of the van's presence in the area, Pewsey said. As of Thursday afternoon, they had only the student's report, he said.
Sheriff's officials asked residents to immediately report suspicious people or vehicles by calling 911.
Mask mandate spurs graffiti
OJAI – Sheriff’s officials were investigating a vandalism incident discovered Monday at Ojai Unified School District.
While on patrol, an Ojai deputy noticed the vandalism – graffiti that read “unmask my kids” – and began looking into it, said Ventura County Sheriff's Sgt. Kevin Donoghue earlier this week. The sheriff's agency provides police services in Ojai through a contract.
Sheriff’s deputies waited for school district officials to arrive to interview them about the incident.
“The long and short of it is there’s no witnesses to the crime,” Donoghue said.
Officials assume the incident happened sometime between Sunday night and Monday morning because deputies working the day before hadn't see the markings.
Ojai Superintendent Tiffany Morse said four locations on the district office property were vandalized with graffiti: the front and back of her office, the auditorium and the preschool.
The vandalism has since been cleaned up. The district estimated damages at under $500.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Ojai sheriff’s patrol station at 805-646-1414.
ICYMI:Parents, community join statewide protests of student vaccine mandate
Storage unit burglary suspects caught
THOUSAND OAKS – Authorities arrested a Los Angeles man and woman this week suspected of stealing property from more than 20 storage units in Thousand Oaks, the Ventura County Sheriff's Office reported.
On Sept. 13, patrol deputies from the Thousand Oaks station responded to a storage facility in the 2400 block of Townsgate Road. They found 21 units had been burglarized. Losses were estimated at more than $100,000.
Video surveillance showed the suspects stealing property and loading it into a rented moving truck and a personal vehicle, sheriff's officials allege.
Thousand Oaks detectives worked with multiple units and agencies to identify the suspects, a 39-year-old woman and a 33-year-old man from Los Angeles.
On Wednesday, a search warrant was served at each suspect's residence, leading to their arrests and to recovery of property stolen from the storage units, authorities said.
The two were booked into Ventura County jail on suspicion of burglary offenses. Sheriff's officials said surveillance cameras at the business were "crucial" for the identification and arrest of the suspects.