Full Notification

***INCIDENT OCCURRED ON AUGUST 24, 2024***

In the late afternoon of August 8, 2024, Simi Valley Police Department dispatch was alerted to a FLOCK license plate hit on a stolen vehicle.  Officers located the vehicle in the parking lot of Kohl's at 2930 Tapo Canyon Road.  As officers attempted to contact the two occupants in the vehicle, a third subject exited Kohl's carrying an armfull of clothing and entered the vehicle.

The vehicle proceeded to exit the parking lot onto Tapo Canyon Road and a pursuit was intiated north bound.  The vehicle continued to drive north on Tapo Canyon into the unincorparated area of Ventura County.  The pursuit came to a conclussion approximately 12 miles into the foothills between Simi Valley and Piru on the property of Santa Clara Valley Gas Plant.

The three occupants, Christopher Medina (a 18 year-old Panorama City resident) and two juveniles (a 16 year-old Los Angeles resident and a 15 year-old Granada Hills resident), were taken into custody without further incident.

Several items of clothing were found in the vehicle.  It was later confirmed that $734 worth of clothing was stolen from Kohl's.  The vehicle was confirmed to be stolen out of Cerritos.

Medina was arrested and booked at the Ventura County Pre-Trial Detention Facility for possession of a stolen vehicle, organized retail theft, conspiracy, evading police, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.  The juveniles were arrested, cited, and released to family members for organized retail theft and conspiracy.