Photo: Stock Image
While large-scale modern agriculture involving multiple thousands of acres throughout the country now involves the use of every conceivable high-tech tool, smaller local agricultural enterprises still rely on some tried-and-true traditional methods, including the use of smudge pots to prevent crops from freezing in the fields.
With portable smudge pots valued at approximately $1,000 each they have become the target of stealthy thieves operating in the dark of night. That sad fact came to light once again just after midnight on February 24th when the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department Fillmore Patrol Station was alerted to an audible alarm report from a local area resident.
According to VCSD spokesman Detective Dustin Heersche, responding patrol deputies learned that “theft of smudge pot agricultural equipment” had taken place at a small agricultural property, with an expected financial loss of more than $3,000. But small farm or not, the owners had wisely installed high-tech surveillance cameras on the property which allowed law enforcement investigators to access video footage of “two unknown suspects” prowling the property at the reported time of the crime.
The following day, February 25th, at approximately the same time of night, another 911 Call for Service reported yet another “audible alarm” from a residence where a ranch manager—using “remote access to surveillance cameras on the property”—witnessed someone in the act of stealing farm equipment. Patrol units responded with all due alacrity and made contact with 28-year-old Lindsay, Ca. resident Juan Carlos Leon, who was promptly determined to be the suspect recorded on the surveillance video.
Leon was quickly found to be in possession of stolen smudge pot equipment and he “admitted” to being the culprit in the prior night’s thievery. He was then transported to Ventura County Jail, where he was booked on a charge of grand theft.
Further investigation into the thefts led to the identification of and contact with Leon’s co-conspirator, 29-year-old Lindsay, Ca. resident Juan Manuel Diaz. Diaz was arrested and booked into Ventura County Jail on charges of grand theft and conspiracy.
