In Brief
By Claire Polermo 06/25/2009
First contested county sheriff election in 30 years
Geoff Dean, a 32-year law enforcement veteran, will kick off his campaign this week for Ventura County Sheriff in the June 2010 election. His announcement represents the beginning of Ventura County’s first contested sheriff election in 30 years.
Dean has been with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department since 1977, when he started his career writing parking tickets in Thousand Oaks. His diverse résumé includes work with local youth, outreach to the Latino community, gang enforcement, teaching new police academy recruits and managing multimillion-dollar department budgets.
Dean will be running against Dennis Carpenter, current Chief Deputy of Ventura County Sheriff’s Department and a law enforcement veteran of 34 years, who also joined the Sheriff’s Department in 1977 and previously served as chief of police for Thousand Oaks.
Local elected officials, community leaders and law enforcement officers who have endorsed Dean will attend the conference where he will announce his candidacy, which will be held today, June 25, at noon at Constitution Park in Camarillo.
Couple arrested on suspicion of mass identity theft
Jacob and Krystine Degrande, both 39 years old and residents of Ventura, were arrested on Thursday, June 18, as part of an extended investigation into ongoing identity theft and check fraud.
This investigation is being conducted collaboratively by detectives from Ventura Police Department, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. The Degrandes were arrested previously on similar theft charges in 2000.
During a search of the Degrandes’ home prior to their most recent arrest, detectives found counterfeit checks, fake ID cards, fraudulent gift cards purchased with counterfeit checks, stolen mail, stolen documents containing victims’ personal information, equipment for making false documents, and a small quantity of methamphetamine. They also recovered expensive property that investigators believe was purchased with the counterfeit checks and fraudulently obtained gift cards, including a Dune Buggy, living room furniture, several laptop computers, power tools, a big-screen TV and other electronics.
Identity theft is known for being a relatively easy crime to pull off and a difficult one to control. Whenever strangers have a way of getting access to your name, address, bank account number and the routing number printed on the bottoms of most checks — such as by stealing envelopes from red-flagged mailboxes — identity theft can happen. Police detectives have pointed to encrypted e-banking as a way to ensure better security and protect financial information. (For more information on check fraud, please refer to the VCReporter feature story, “
RV refurbishing scam hits local trailer parks and beaches
RV camping enthusiasts beware: If a stranger offers to re-apply a gelcoat finish to your motor home at a discount price, he or she may just be offering you a big fat lie and a greasy mess.
Detectives have been taking reports about groups of people at Rincon Beach who have been scoping out campsites, searching for trailers with dull, aging finishes. The suspects, aka scammers, approach the unsuspecting owners and explain that they are in the business of re-applying gelcoats to older, damaged RVs. They mention that they have some extra gelcoat left over from a past job, and that they’re struggling to make a living in the tough economy. They will add that it can be done right at your campsite, creating a coating that will last for up to 12 years.
Once they have convinced the owner, the scam artists pull out several containers of pink, red, blue or purple gel and begin wiping it all over the boat, trailer or motor home. It will look legitimate, since the RV will have a reflective sheen. However, they will tell the customer not to touch the surface for 15 hours due to the high resin content of gelcoat, which can burn or make fingers stick together like glue.
So what’s the scam? That substance is not gelcoat; it is grease. When mixed with water, the color of the grease varies enough to look pink, red, blue or purple. When touched, it will smell like automotive grease, giving the scam away. Of course, by that point, the suspect will already have walked away with the victims’ money and left them with a dirty, spotted RV that will take hours to clean.
Police officers advise RV owners not to accept services or products from anyone without a valid vendor’s license, and to report any scammers immediately.
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