Community
South American Pickpocket Group
Ventura County Crime Stoppers will pay up to $1,000 reward for information, which leads to the arrest and criminal complaint against the person(s) responsible for this crime. The caller may remain anonymous. The call is not recorded. Call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477).
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South American Pickpocket Group 
| Nature of Incident: | South American Pickpocket Group Successful Prosecution | ||||
| Report Number: | 17-135249 | ||||
| Location: | Thousand Oaks | ||||
| Date & Time: | September 2017 - August 22, 2019 | ||||
| Unit Responsible: | Thousand Oaks Police Investigations Bureau | ||||
| (S)uspects, (V)ictims, (P)arty, (D)ecedent |
City of Residence |
Age | |||
| Jennifer Mercedes Garcia Huapaya Ashley Christina Botteri |
Los Angeles Los Angeles |
44 21 |
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| Narrative: | |||||
| In September of 2017, the city of Thousand Oaks had an increase in wallet thefts occurring at local retailers. The Thousand Oaks Investigations Bureau began an investigation into a group of wallet thieves. Over the course of several months, Detectives from the Thousand Oaks Police Investigations Bureau worked diligently to identify several of the suspects within the group, including Jennifer Huapaya and Ashley Botteri, who were both identified as working with an organized group of traveling South American pickpocket crews. Detectives discovered they were responsible for several of these crimes. Investigator’s learned they operated in California and travelled to several other states targeting primarily elderly females. They worked in concert by removing women’s wallets from their purses while hanging over the back of chairs while seated in restaurants and coffee houses. They also used distraction techniques while in grocery stores to remove wallets from purses inside grocery carts. Once Huapaya and Botteri stole the wallets, they would immediately use the credit cards for fraudulent purchases of gift cards and high end merchandise at nearby retails stores. They also laundered the gift cards and high end merchandise through a fence to obtain the funds from the thefts. In May of 2018, Detectives obtained arrest warrants for Huapaya and Botteri, along with other individuals in the group for multiple charges. In September of 2018, Botteri was located living in Los Angeles County and was arrested during a search warrant at her residence. In March of 2019, Huapaya was transferred into the custody of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office for the warrant after serving time elsewhere for similar charges. Huapaya and Botteri remained in custody in Ventura County while they awaited court proceedings. On April 4, 2019, Huapaya and Botteri pleaded guilty to multiple counts of identity theft, burglary, and elder abuse. On May 2, 2019, Huapaya was sentenced to four years in prison, to be served consecutive with an additional three years sentence she received in Los Angeles County. On August 22, 2019, Botteri was sentenced to seven years in prison. |
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| Prepared by: | Detective Paul Ferruzza | ||||
| Media Release Date: | September 9, 2019 | ||||
| Media Follow-Up Contact: | Detective Paul Ferruzza (805) 947-8286 [email protected] |
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| Approved by: | Captain Denise Sliva | ||||
Ventura County Crime Stoppers will pay up to $1,000 reward for information, which leads to the arrest and criminal complaint against the person(s) responsible for this crime. The caller may remain anonymous. The call is not recorded. Call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477).
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Address/Location
Ventura County Sheriff's Office
800 S Victoria Ave
Ventura, CA 93003
Contact
Emergency: 9-1-1
Non-emergencies: 805-654-9511