Police Probe String of Patio Furniture Thefts

Authorities in Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley are urging residents to look out for suspicious activities in their neighborhoods after a string of thefts of wrought-iron lawn furniture.

Ventura County Sheriff’s Detective Laurie Camou said her office has taken 12 such reports since September, while Simi Valley police are looking into one theft.

“I can’t ever recall taking a report on this prior to last year,” said Camou, who has worked in Thousand Oaks for six years.

In each case, chairs, tables and benches were stolen from residents’ front and back yards, authorities said.

Residents are being advised to keep their lawn furniture in their back yards and to lock their gates when they are away.

Although police have no suspects, Camou said she is looking into the possibility that the items were stolen by one or more gardeners who sell the merchandise to unwitting clients at reduced prices.

She said victims in Thousand Oaks each reported losses of $400 to $800, based on the items’ market value.

Until this past week, Camou said, all the Thousand Oaks thefts occurred in the north-central section of town. The most recent theft occurred near Thousand Oaks High School, east of the prior incidents.

The one theft in Simi Valley, with an estimated loss of $2,200, occurred in the south-central part of the city between May 30 and June 28 while the victims were out of the country, said Debbie Ruud, a crime analyst for Simi Valley police.

A spokeswoman for Zender’s Patio and Fireside in Thousand Oaks said prices in her store range from $516 to $780 for a set of four wrought-iron chairs, while tables cost $899 to $1,249. Other stores offer less expensive models, she said.

A single theft involving items valued at more than $400 constitutes grand theft and is punishable by up to a year in jail, while theft of items worth $400 or less is a misdemeanor that could bring a sentence of up to six months in jail and a fine of as much as $1,000, Camou said.

Police in Ventura, Oxnard and Port Hueneme said they have not received any reports of such thefts in recent memory.