Ventura County – There is a lot of expensive gear in any local retail store purveying cell phones and the myriad accessories that go along with their increasingly ubiquitous use. Given the value of such an establishment’s contents and the technological wherewithal of such a storefront operation, one might expect that they would have an effective alarm system in place.
The validity of that expectation was met in the hours just after midnight on August 14th at the T-Mobile store in downtown Camarillo, when the nearby Ventura County Sheriff’s Department station received an alarm call from that location. According to VCSD spokesman Sgt. Pete O’Sullivan, the alarm company reported “they were monitoring the store’s surveillance video and could see one suspect inside the store.”
With all due alacrity, Camarillo Police Department deputies were on the scene establishing a secure perimeter. An Oxnard Police Department K-9 unit was summoned to the scene, and upon the canine’s arrival, deputies verbally greeted the caught-in-the-act burglar and suggested that he exit the store voluntarily. It was at that point that Victor Hugo Florentino, an Oxnard resident, considered his limited options; rather than enjoy the experience of a large dog—undoubtedly grumpy at having been aroused from his evening’s sleep—entering the store with the sole purpose of immobilizing him, Florentino “ultimately came out of the store and surrendered to the deputies.”
Further investigation indicated that Florentino had accessed the store interior via the roof, and was in possession of a bag containing a quantity of the store merchandise. Florentino was transported to Ventura County Jail, where he was booked on charges of commercial burglary and possession of burglary tools. He remains in custody pending bail.
