Ventura County – “Egging” cars and “T.P.-ing” your neighbors’ houses might be good rambunctious fun for those inclined to adolescent mischief, but once a young man reaches his maturity and is a legally-recognized adult, it’s time to leave such things to the next generation…and when one fails to do so, the attention of law enforcement is sure to follow.
That attention is particularly certain to manifest itself when the target of vandalism is property owned by a sworn peace officer, an eternal verity apparently overlooked by a quartet of young adult males on the evening of January 15th. It was late that night when, according to Camarillo Police Department spokesperson Det. Julie Novak, “an off-duty Ventura County Sheriff’s deputy was the victim of a vehicle vandalism” and the deputy just happened to witness the vandalism in progress. Once alerted to the fact that their activity had been witnessed, four suspects promptly fled the area…only to be pursued by the deputy and his son—also an employee of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department.
As these things go—and as the luck of the four suspects was clearly going that night—the off-duty pursuers spotted them in their vehicle just a few blocks from the scene of their crime, “coordinated a response with Camarillo patrol deputies”, and the suspect vehicle was brought to a halt.
Keith Kemper
The ensuing field interviews of Alexander Van Es, 20, Keith Kemper, 19, Trenton Thorton, 19, and Vincent Avila, 18, clearly indicated that the quartet had been engaged in what Novak described as “a crime spree, vandalizing houses, vehicles, and mailboxes” for the prior six months. Pursuant to further investigation, the four men are suspected in more than a dozen property crimes throughout the area, which led to their booking into Ventura County Jail for conspiracy and vandalism, with their bail set at $20,000 each.
Read more:
Camarillo Acorn: Four teens accused of vandalizing cars. mailboxes
