CALIFORNIA STOLEN COMPUTERS RECOVERED Arrests made in connection with daytime burglaries

By Daniel Wolowicz camarillo@theacorn.com

Six Oxnard residents- four men and two women- were arrested Wednesday in connection with 11 daytime burglaries and four attempted burglaries of Camarillo homes in less than a month, according to detectives with the Ventura County Sheriff's Department.

Antonio Cervantes, 22, and Ricardo Rodriguez, 19, were allegedly seen by a police surveillance team burglarizing a home in the 6000 block of Calle Arena and then another residence in the 800 block of Calle Canon, police said.

The two Oxnard men were arrested without incident, police said, and an ensuing investigation led to the arrest of Manuel Elwell, 18, who was also charged with burglary.

In addition, detectives arrested Shari Lopez, 22, for alleged possession of stolen property and Rhiannon Bassett, 20, and Ruben Garcia, 28, on drug charges, police said.

Detectives said stolen property from other burglaries was found in the suspects' residences.

The crew of daytime burglars allegedly struck five Camarillo homes since Dec. 13 and made burglary attempts on another four residences throughout the city, police said.

Between Nov. 27 and Dec. 12, six midtown homes were burglarized. The break-ins all took place during the daytime.

"We think these are all connected," said Detective Mario Aguilar with the Ventura County Sheriff's Department.

On Dec. 13, a home in the 100 block of Appletree Avenue was burglarized. That same day, a homeowner returned home in the 300 block of North Otono Court and interrupted burglars attempting to steal a largescreen television and computers, police said.

According to police, the resident came home to find his television at the front door and heard someone in the back of the house.

The burglar reportedly heard the homeowner return and ran away. No one was hurt.

Four days later, on Dec. 17, burglars knocked on the door of a home in the 1500 block of Los Alisos. When the homeowner, who was inside the house, did not answer the door, the burglar reportedly tried to enter the home through an unlocked window in the backyard. The homeowner shouted at the burglar, who ran away.

That same day, burglars stole a laptop computer, two desktop computers, jewelry and money from an unlocked home in the 4900 block of Via Cupertino.

The following day, burglars attempted to break into two homes- one in the 2000 block of Via Montecito, the other in the 1800 block of Camino Vera Cruz- but left because the back windows of both homes were locked.

Thieves, however, did steal a big-screen television and jewelry from an unlocked home in the 1800 block of Lyndhurst Avenue.

According to court records, Cervantes had an outstanding warrant for his arrest stemming from a conviction in August for firstdegree burglary. He was already set to serve 180 days in jail for the earlier crime when he was arrested this week, records show.

Except for Bassett and Garcia, who have both been released, the suspects remain in jail in lieu of bail. They are scheduled to be arraigned today.