Subject Arrested for Looting 

November 10, 2024 – Ventura County Sheriff's Office officials report that a subject was arrested for looting in an evacuation order area.

On November 8, 2024, the victim was using his electric bicycle to survey the damage to his property from the Mountain Fire. He parked his bicycle on his driveway and walked around his front yard. While doing so, he noticed the neighbor’s landscaping crew was in the neighborhood. When he returned where he had parked his bicycle, he found it had been taken. Due to the timing and proximity of the theft, he confronted the landscapers, who were at his neighbor’s residence, and one of them admitted to taking the bicycle. After removing the bicycle from an enclosed trailer, the suspect returned it to the victim.

On November 9, 2024, members of the Sheriff’s Tactical Response Team were conducting patrols in the area due to it being under an evacuation order. When they stopped to speak with the victim, he disclosed the incident regarding the theft of his bicycle. Upon further investigation, the deputies identified the suspect as Ramon Avila Pacheco. Tactical Response Team members were able to locate Pacheco in the area of Temple Ave. and Aloha St. in Camarillo and arrested him for violation of 463(b) – Looting. Pacheco was booked into the Pre Trial-Detention Facility.

The Sheriff’s Tactical Response Team is comprised of personnel from throughout the agency, who are trained in a multitude of disciplines including natural disaster responses. They have been deployed for such incidents in Ventura County and other areas within the state of California, when mutual aid requests have been received by the Sheriff’s Office.

Source: Ventura County Sheriff's Office