SPPD: Report of suspicious activity
leads to pursuit, early morning warning
May 07, 2014
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula News
A report of suspicious subjects walking down a normally quiet street sparked a pursuit and an early morning notification by Santa Paula Police that residents should be cautious.
According to SPPD Sgt. Scott Varner, the incident, which occurred early Thursday morning, could be linked to the discovery of several vehicles that were burglarized.
Initially, dispatch received a call at about 2:50 a.m. “Of two males walking down the street with spray cans,” of paint in a residential area just west of Santa Paula High School.
Upon arrival in the area the SPPD Officer located two subjects sitting in a car parked in the mid-600 block of Virginia Terrace, but were unable to make contact as, “When the occupants saw the police unit the two subjects got out of the vehicle and took off running.”
Backup arrived and a perimeter was quickly established from Pleasant Street to Virginia Terrace and 6th to 7th streets
Mutual aid from Ventura County Sheriff’s was also requested and a SPPD K9 Unit-Zak and Senior Officer Larry Johnson-called out.
With the addition of the K9 to the search a reverse phone notification was ordered to alert residents.
Said Varner, “We wanted to let residents know we would be running a dog through the area,” and if their own animals were outside to bring them in. Residents were also asked to double-check the doors and windows of their homes to make sure they were securely locked.
After an extensive search the subjects were not located.
The subjects did however leave the vehicle that the officer first observed them sitting in behind at the scene.
And Varner noted two vehicle burglaries were discovered in the immediate neighborhood, now being investigated by police.
On April 17 SPPD received multiple reports of thefts from vehicles-many unlocked-parked were in the areas of Teague and Glade drives, north of Santa Paula Street between Bradley Street and McKevett Heights.
Police urge residents to lock their vehicles and not keep valuables in their cars and trucks.
Anyone with information on either incident is asked to contact the Santa Paula Police Department, 525-4474.
If the caller would prefer to remain anonymous, they can call the SPPD recorded Tip Hotline, 933-5691.
In addition, tips can be emailed to the SPPD at tipline@spcity.org
Those with information can also call Ventura County Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-TIPS (8477). The caller may remain anonymous and the call is not recorded.
Ventura County Crime Stoppers can also be contacted by texting “Busted” plus your message to CRIMES (274637).
Crime Stopper Tips can also be sent via the website, www.venturacountycrimestoppers.org
Crime Stoppers will pay up to a $1,000 reward for a tip that leads to a felony arrest as confirmed by the arresting agency.