Photo: Omar Zaragoza and Ruben Amezcua
Ventura County – A quick scroll to the bottom of the list of crimes sorted top-to-bottom based upon the courage it takes to commit a specific violation would likely point to what is commonly referred to as “stealing stuff off of front porches.”
With the Holiday Season in full swing, the public is reminded that having things delivered and left sitting by the front door is an open invitation to the cowardly likes of thieves like 24-year-old Omar Zaragoza and 26-year-old Ruben Amezcua, both residents of Moorpark.
It was in the middle of the morning on December 10th when, according to Ventura County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Det. Sgt. Kevin Lynch, 911 Dispatch received a call reporting “a robbery” at an area mobile home park. Responding deputies quickly learned that “two suspects” had been confronted by a 65-year-old park tenant when he spotted them in the attempt “to steal some of the resident’s property that was sitting in his driveway.”
The victim, like many of us in today’s digitized world, had been quick to whip out his smartphone and begin recording video of the crime as it took place. That immediately earned him the enmity of the putative thieves who had proceeded to “batter the victim” and then take even more of his property.
While detectives were conducting interviews of the victim and area witnesses, they were notified that “a package theft had just occurred in a nearby neighborhood” with the involvement of suspects who matched the description they had just been given. The ensuing investigation at the hands of the Moorpark Investigations Bureau lead to the identification of Zaragoza and Amezcua.
Within 12 hours, both suspects had been contacted and taken into custody. Evidence gathered at the time of their arrests liked them to both crime scenes. Zaragoza and Amezcua were transported to Ventura County Jail. Zaragoza was booked on felony theft and drug-related offenses; Amezcua was charged with robbery and assorted theft-related offenses. Both men remain in custody on no-bail holds.
Photos: Courtesy Ventura County Jail Booking
