Community
News Story - Suspect Arrested For Church Burglaries
| Nature of Incident: | Suspect Arrested for Church Burglaries | ||||
| Report Number: | RB#’s 22-7331, 22-15153, 22-23598 | ||||
| Location: | 588 Camino Manzanas, 667 Caminos Dos Rios | ||||
| Date & Time: | February 22, 2022, 10:00 AM | ||||
| Unit(s) Responsible: | East County Patrol, Thousand Oaks Investigations-Career Criminals Unit | ||||
| (S)uspects, (V)ictims, (P)arty, (D)ecedent |
City of Residence |
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| Chad Esseff | Thousand Oaks | ||||
| Narrative: | |||||
| A warrant arrest made by patrol deputies helps to solidify a burglary investigation. On 2/22/22, deputies made a traffic stop on a suspicious vehicle near Lotus Avenue and Ferndale Place. The driver was identified as Chad Esseff, who was determined to have a local misdemeanor warrant for his arrest. Esseff was arrested and his vehicle was parked in the area. Thousand Oaks Investigators from the Career Criminals Unit had been investigating two recent church burglaries. On 1/17/22, a suspect forced entry into Redeemer Lutheran Church and entered the nursery, Sunday School and the Assembly Hall and stole a variety of property. On 2/4/22, a suspect entered Emmanuel Presbyterian Church and stole sound equipment. A bounce house was stolen from each location. Investigators used law enforcement databases and wrote search warrants for information. On 2/22/22, the suspect was determined to be Chad Esseff. Detectives went to the location of Esseff’s vehicle, which was now parked in a driveway on Lautrec Court. Detectives contacted the owner of the house and located an abundance of property. Stolen property from both churches was located inside the residence, including both bounce houses. Additionally, detectives took pictures of all the property located at the residence. The recovered property was returned to both churches. A representative from Emmanuel Presbyterian viewed the pictures and identified more stolen property from two other burglaries they had not reported. Evidence was located at the house on Lautrec Court linking Esseff to that burglary. Esseff was booked at the Pre-Trial Detention Facility for his misdemeanor warrant and five counts of burglary. Esseff’s arraignment is set for 2/24/22, at 1:30 PM and his total bail is set at $40,000. |
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| Prepared by: | Detective Sergeant Laura Natoli #3421 | ||||
| News Release Date: | February 24,2022 | ||||
| Media Follow-Up Contact: | Detective Travis Neet 805-371-8342 or [email protected] | ||||
| Approved by: Booking Photo Release: |
Captain Denise Sliva YES NO |
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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