VENTURA COUNTY — The rage among millennial extreme sports enthusiasts and technophiles for the latest high-tech toys has accelerated over the past several months with the ubiquitous presence of “hover boards” on downtown sidewalks and neighborhood bicycle paths, with “pop up” retail spaces aggressively hawking the recreational curiosity at every popular commercial venue where low-overhead kiosks have made their appearance.
As cost-effective as such retail space may be for vendors, there are apparent security vulnerabilities attendant for anyone carrying an inventory in these kiosks, as evidenced by the December 29th report of the burglary of one such facility featuring “Hover Gliders” at the heavily-trafficked Camarillo Premium Outlets shopping center.
According to Ventura County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Det. Sgt. Pete O’Sullivan, “a large quantity of Hover Gliders” were stolen with no leads as to the identity of the thieves.
Pursuant to the recommendations of responding officers, the kiosk proprietors soon began to “check various online classified advertisement websites” in search of the stolen property.
Soon enough, the victim spotted his wares being offered at reduced prices on Craigslist, which gave members of the Camarillo Special Enforcement Detail, the Sheriff’s Special Crimes Unit, and the Sheriff’s Gang Unit all the information they needed to make contact with and arrest the Craigslist purveyor, Loudwing Boris Trujillo, a 19-year-old Oxnard resident.
Subsequent investigation led to the service of search warrants upon Trujillo’s residence, along with those of Kevin Galbino Sanchez, 18, and Hassan Allan Valenzuelah, 18, both hailing from Oxnard.
Both suspects were found to be in possession of stolen “Hover Gliders,” and arrests of Trujillo’s co-conspirators immediately followed.
Trujillo, Sanchez, and Valenzuela were all booked into Ventura County Jail on charges of commercial burglary and possession of stolen property, with bail amounts ranging from $10,000 to $20,000 each.
