Photo: Jose Luis Orozco
May 16, 2020 – Ventura County – It’s not every day that the victim of a crime takes independent action that helps the cops put the offending party in handcuffs.
But that’s exactly what happened on the morning of May 14th when a resident of Piru came out of his apartment and discovered his car missing. A quick call to the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department Fillmore Patrol Division to report a stolen vehicle brought deputies to the scene of the crime in short order.
According to VCSD spokesman Det. Cesar Salas, the missing car had been parked in its designated space at the victim’s apartment complex “for about a week” when it was discovered missing. Later that morning, the victim was in another vehicle driving eastbound on State Route 126 in the Santa Paula area when “he saw his vehicle in front of him.”
At that point the victim began following his car and made a cellphone call to 911 Emergency Dispatch to inform deputies that he was now “following the suspect.”
Displaying considerable restraint, the victim did not announce his presence to the driver of his stolen car, but followed the vehicle “until the suspect parked it” and entered a residence in the City of Fillmore.
By that time, deputies and detectives attached to the Fillmore Police Department were on the scene, accompanied by members of the VCSD Gang Unit who set up surveillance on the now unoccupied stolen vehicle.
The cops didn’t have to wait long, as “a short time later” 35-year-old Fillmore resident Jose Luis Orozco exited the residence and approached the stolen car. The cops promptly announced themselves and took Orozco into custody.
He was then transported to Ventura County Jail where he was booked on charges of Unlawful Taking of a Vehicle, Possession of a Controlled Substance, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and Violation of Parole Terms. He remains in custody on a no-bail hold.
Photo: Courtesy Ventura County Jail Booking.
