Photo: Video image of suspect Douglas Kennett | Ventura County Sheriff’s Office
Written By: Robert L. McCullough
Those who may be inclined to randomly “key” parked vehicles out of some sense of resentment, entitlement, or simple disregard for the property of others might take note of the January 17th arrest of 55-year-old Newbury Park resident Douglas Kennett.
According to Ventura County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Det. Sgt. Rob Yoos, when the owner of a Tesla automobile returned to his car after a brief shopping excursion on the afternoon of January 10th, 2023, he “discovered his vehicle had significantly deep scratches made into the vehicle’s paint.” The Tesla owner promptly looked at the video record captured by the car’s monitoring system and “saw that it captured the suspect’s actions.”
The Tesla owner filed a crime report with the East County Patrol Services and then “posted the video on social media.” It didn’t take long for the online community to take notice and “several citizens” contacted the Thousand Oaks Police Department and provided them with the name of the man in the video: Douglas Kennett.
Less than a week later, detectives found Kennett at home, made contact with him and promptly took him into custody. A subsequent search of Kennett’s residence lead to the discovery of “evidence believed to be related to the crime.” He was then transported to Ventura County Jail, where he was booked on a charge of Vehicle Vandalism.
