Ventura County – There may be no more terrifying experience than awakening in the dead of night to find a babbling intruder standing in your kitchen and announcing that all he wants is a pair of scissors, which is exactly what happened to a Thousand Oaks resident in the early pre-dawn hours of Monday, April 6th.
According to Ventura County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Det. Billy Hutton, Thousand Oaks Police Department 911 Emergency operators responded to an alarm signal emanating from a home on Burleson Avenue in the City of Thousand Oaks at approximately 2:00 a.m. Upon arrival, deputies discovered James Derek Tabor, a 44-year old transient whom Hutton described as “acting bizarrely” standing inside the kitchen. Tabor immediately attempted to avoid arrest by fleeing into the home’s backyard, where he was summarily taken into custody.
Hutton reported that the victim had “pressed a police alarm in her kitchen” after she was awakened by the sound of someone pounding on her front door and the subsequent noise made by a window being broken. Pursuant to their investigation, deputies concluded that Tabor had entered the home through the broken window, and when confronted by the terrified woman, told her he “wanted scissors to cut his hair.” Once he located scissors, Tabor reportedly spoke in a confused manner, began cutting his hair, and threatened the woman with the scissors.
Tabor was transported to Los Robles Medical Center for evaluation, following which he was provided with transportation to Ventura County Jail, where he was booked on charges of false imprisonment by violence and residential burglary, with his bail set at $100,000.
Tabor has a history with local law enforcement. As recently as January 30, according to the Ventura Sheriff’s office, while residing at a Thousand Oaks home only a mile or so from this latest incident, he was arrested for contempt of court – disobeying a court order. Three days prior to that, on January 27, he was charged with public intoxication. On October 10, according to Santa Barbara Police, he was arrested for disorderly conduct – lodging in a building, vehicle, or other location without permission. They also arrested him a few days prior, on September 28, for public intoxication. At that time, he was identified as a transient. On October 10, 2013, back in Thousand Oaks, he was charged by the Ventura Sheriff’s Department with burglary. Further details of those arrests were not available.
