This morning from Sargent Joe Evans — a prowler in Ojai.
UPDATE: Prowler caught! See after the jump for details.
This evening, as posted by Lisa Snider in the comments (thanks, Lisa!):
Wow I guess there is a new Neighborhood Watch Program in town. The neighbors on Bald street have banded together and are in the process of taking control of their neighborhood.
This morning at 9 am, I sent out an alert about a prowler causing problems in the area of Bald street in the City of Ojai. Well within 6 hours the neighbors identified the suspect, found a victim wanting to prosecute and called the police. Deputies arrived and with cooperation of the neighborhood the suspect was arrested and given a court date. This same suspect was recently arrested for indecent exposure, again with the help of some very alert neighbors.
This neighborhood has taken to heart our motto of ” lets catch a crook”. This is a great example of what a neighborhood can do when they work hand and hand with their deputies.
Keep up the good work and keep those crooks coming.
Joe
I can be reached at ojaivalley.citywatch@ventura.org
From earlier today…
Good morning Watchers
Our friends living in the area of Bald Street in Ojai, are having problems with prowler. There is a man going into the neighborhood backyards early in the mornings. These crimes seem to be happening between midnight and 7 am. If you live in this area and see or hear someone in your yard, please call the police.
When your deputies respond to these types of calls, they respond quicky and normally with two or more cars. This is because they want to get a perimeter around this guy in order to catch him before he leaves the area or returns to his own home.
When your deputies catch this man, we need you to request prosecution for his actions. This is a misdemeanor crime and your request for prosecution is needed.
If you are passing through this area and see any suspicious people walking in the late night and early morning hours, please call us. The more chances we have to contact this person, the more he will want to stay out of the area or at least in his own yard.
If you live in this area you can count on seeing an increase in police patrols. We are also going to increase the amount of probation searches we do in this neighborhood.
Having a prowler in your neighborhood is a bad thing. We all share in the comfort of knowing our families are home at night in a safe environment. When a prowler enters our yard, he violates our families security. As a community we need to let them know this is not going to be tolerated. Having said that, please watch out for your neighbors. If you see something that just does not look right, call us.
We are a very active community and together we will solve this problem.
Thanks for you time and please keep up the good work.
Your friend and neighbor, Joe
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
THANKS for posting Leigh! Just forwarded to my sister and friends in downtown Ojai!
Not to diminish the problem of prowlers, but this reminds me of the days when Johnny Carson read the Ojai Police Blotter on his show…there was a woman on Bald Street who called the police about a prowler on a regular basis…she was referred to as “the Bald Street woman…” \
Hee hee!
Wonder if it was the same guy…
I didn’t know that Johnny Carson did that, Suza — it was before I knew what/where Ojai was, I guess, and it didn’t stick in my sieve-like little brain. What a hoot!
(Does anybody know if there is tape of those bits from Carson? They’d be fun to watch…)
And, oh, you’re welcome, DK!
Love small towns. Part of what I did each time I arrived in Ocean Springs, MS, (a small art community where our vacation house was), was to grab the local paper. I would get to the house and grab a gin and tonic and sit out on the porch and read the police reports. Every single little thing was reported like “a man stopped on Lover’s Lane because he looked suspicious” or “a woman called complaining about noises in her yard and an oppossum was found”. I miss those days, the simplicity of just how funny small town life can be when it’s safe.
We should check into the Bald Woman…now who’d want to be called that?? lol
looks like they caught the prowler…this from Sgt. Joe:
“Wow I guess there is a new Neighborhood Watch Program in town. The neighbors on Bald street have banded together and are in the process of taking control of their neighborhood.
This morning at 9 am, I sent out an alert about a prowler causing problems in the area of Bald street in the City of Ojai. Well within 6 hours the neighbors identified the suspect, found a victim wanting to prosecute and called the police. Deputies arrived and with cooperation of the neighborhood the suspect was arrested and given a court date. This same suspect was recently arrested for indecent exposure, again with the help of some very alert neighbors.
This neighborhood has taken to heart our motto of ” lets catch a crook”. This is a great example of what a neighborhood can do when they work hand and hand with their deputies.
Keep up the good work and keep those crooks coming.
Joe
I can be reached at ojaivalley.citywatch@ventura.org“
Good to know the neighbors caught the Bald Street crook! All those years that Johnny Carson read the Ojai Police blotter I don’t think they ever caught the prowler on Bald Street.
Leigh, I’m pretty sure there are copies of the tapes somewhere of Johhny reading the Ojai Police Blotter for the amusement of millions of viewers…
Thanks, Lisa, for posting this! Just got back from a day trip to a friend’s in Marina del Ray and found Joe’s message — I’ll add an update to the post.
But I so appreciate your staying up on this!
Best,
Leigh
PS: Suza, I think we need to get these up so we can share them on the Ojai Post…
Now if we could only get a watch program for the real criminals on Wall Street and in the board rooms of the insurance companies.
And all the fraud government agencies in Sacramento that are taking money away from the teachers. Bureaucrats that do nothing and are paid hundred thousand dollar salaries – put there by legisators as a reward for campain contributions.
And here I was thinking it might be the ghost of the woman who died from sleep deprivation still looking for the source of the soto voce boom box “music” being played into the wee hours.
This is funny and a joke. I live on Bald St. Know the whole situation. You see a few months back a friend came and informed us that they seen our neighbor creeping around their property. I live next door to a police officer who about 5 days ago said my neighbor on the other side was in his backyard. There are 5 girls in my house and this upset them all. So I stayed in my backyard until 4 am for a few days..Boy if i caught him.!!! 2 nights ago the girls freaked and called the cops..The night before there was a cop here at my house because someone called them on me. As usual.. I said something to the cop that night.. Nothing.. So the next night when they (the cops)came to my house Saturday night they informed us that our neighbor had been arrested for indecent exp. interesting since he’s not a registered sex offender..I got daughters I looked it up.. So anyways.. They say they caught him.. No they went to his house.. Searched it seeing how he’s on probation for indecent exp. And were at his house for hours. And seeing how I didnt see him leave in the back of a cop car.. So I would still tell my neighbors in the Bald St area to be on the look out..
ya, I’m still on the loose …
If you really read joe’s post and know anything.. See that is a true politician. The man was sighted and released. He got a ticket. A ticket..
The man is still walking around.
So all the people that live on Bald St should still be aware..