VENTURA : 2 Suspected Avocado Thieves Chased, Jailed

A suspected avocado thief who was chased 100 feet down the side of a canyon by three deputies and a police dog had to be saved by a Ventura County sheriff’s rescue team after he, the dog and deputies got stuck and couldn’t climb out.

The pursuit began about 10:10 a.m. when the foreman at Brokaw Nursery at 2977 Sexton Canyon Road noticed that a pair of men driving a truck had entered the orchard through an unlocked gate, said Deputy Lance Brooks.

The foreman locked the gate and called deputies, who used a trained police dog to find the suspected thieves in the orchard, Brooks said. With 800 to 1,000 pounds of avocados in his truck, Benito Reyes, 22, surrendered, but the other man took off running, Brooks said.

Brooks said Thomas Jennings, 25, led him, two other deputies and the dog about 100 feet down the side of Sexton Canyon north of Ventura. There, Jennings surrendered after the dog bit him a few times and he injured his shoulder.

“It was a very steep incline,” said Brooks, who also got tangled with a thatch of poison oak. “You could go down, but you couldn’t get out.”

The deputies radioed for help and were pulled up by ropes, Brooks said. Jennings was placed in a litter and carried out by ropes, with the help of a truck.

Jennings was taken to the Ventura County Medical Center, where he was treated and released into the custody of sheriff’s deputies, authorities said.

The two were arrested on suspicion of grand theft and were being held at Ventura County Jail.