Full Notification

Nature of Incident:      Ventura County Helicopter Crew Assists Patrol Units in Pursuit and Apprehension
 
Report Number:          24-2380
 
Location:                     Thousand Oaks / Westlake Village
 
Date & Time:               1/6/2024 @ 5:30 PM – 9:00 PM
 
Unit(s) Responsible:  Ventura County Sheriff’s Office / Thousand Oaks Special Enforcement Unit / Thousand Oaks Career Criminal Unit / Moorpark Police Station / Thousand Oaks Police Station
 
(S)suspects                                  City of Residence         Age
(S) Tomas Vicente Moran-Martinez    Los Angeles                      24
(S) Fernando Caceres-Caceres         Los Angeles                      48
(S) Unknown
 
Narrative:
 
On the evening of 1/6/24, at about 6:00 PM, Ventura County Copter 3 was conducting a routine patrol flight when they responded to Thousand Oaks to assist on a vehicle traffic stop. 
 
Copter 3 responded to the area of Thousand Oaks and the 101 freeway.  When they arrived in the area, Copter 3 located the vehicle that patrol officers were attempting to stop as the vehicle traveled north on the 101 freeway.  Utilizing night vision goggles, and a highly adaptive camera system with FLIR (Forward Looking Infrared) capabilities, Copter 3 monitored the movement of the vehicle, providing real-time locations of the vehicle to patrol deputies.  The vehicle exited the 101 freeway and began to travel on surface streets.  The suspect vehicle ultimately entered a residential community at which time the copter crew directed Thousand Oaks Patrol units in to make a traffic enforcement stop.   
 
Thousand Oaks Patrol units attempted to conduct a traffic enforcement stop.  However, the suspect vehicle failed to yield and a pursuit was initiated.  Copter 3 monitored and called out the pursuit, allowing patrol units to focus on driving while pursuing the suspects. Copter 3 monitored the vehicle as it entered and exited the 101 freeway multiple times.  The vehicle ultimately stopped in the 1600 block of Brentford Avenue in Westlake Village before the suspects fled on foot. 
 
Copter 3 tracked the suspects’ location by utilizing the on-board FLIR camera.  Copter 3 directed patrol deputies into the suspects locations, allowing two of the three suspects to be apprehended.    
 
The Ventura County Aviation Unit is a partnership between the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office and the Ventura County Fire Department.  Together the agencies provide staffing to the unit and respond to a variety of missions to include firefighting, search and rescue, medical calls, and law enforcement.  The unit is staffed 365 days a year with highly trained Firefighters and Deputy Sheriffs.  The Aviation Unit patrols and responds to all cities and areas of Ventura County regardless of which municipal police or fire department has primary jurisdiction. 
 
The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank members of the public for their on-going support and due diligence in providing information to assist our agency in solving crimes. We are better at what we do because of our community partnerships.
 
Prepared by:                            Senior Deputy Travis Neet

News Release Date:                1/10/2024
 
Media Follow-Up Contact:     Senior Deputy Lee Chapman
                                                 (805)388-4212
                                                 [email protected]
 
Approved by:                         Captain Randy Downard