4 Men Arrested After Cash Theft From Ventura Couple

Four men with alleged links to organized crime were arrested Friday on suspicion of stealing several thousand dollars from an elderly Ventura couple, police said.

Officers arrested the men about 12:30 p.m. in a parking lot at Telegraph Road and Victoria Avenue, Ventura Police Sgt. Bob Velez said.

Because the men gave officers false identification, their identities were unknown.

The men, described as being from the Baltic countries, had been traveling in a Florida rental car, Velez said.

The four men, wearing blue uniforms and using two-way radios, committed an elaborate ruse on an 85-year-old man and his 87-year-old wife who live in a house on Madera Avenue, Velez said.

Uniforms, radios and cash, along with ledgers and maps, were found in the rental car, Velez said.

About 12:15 p.m., two men told the couple they were city public works employees who were there to trim trees on nearby property, Velez said. The men offered to pay the couple $50 for use of their electricity outlets, he said.

“They said it was part of a new city policy to reimburse people,” Velez said.

The men gave the victims a $100 bill and asked for change, Velez said. Meanwhile, the men radioed their cohorts in the car and told them where the couple kept their cash, Velez said.

While the victims were distracted in the kitchen and outside, their money was stolen, he said.

The men left, and the elderly couple called police.

Officers believe the suspects are part of a group of several immigrants in Ventura and several hundred throughout the country who have been recruited by organized crime syndicates to execute scams, Velez said.

Bail for the men had not been set Friday night but they were being held on suspicion of burglary, theft and conspiracy to commit grand theft.