Ventura County Sheriff’s employee, District Attorney’s employee among three arrested for vandalizing Black Lives Matter sign in Thousand Oaks
VENTURA COUNTY, Calif. - A Ventura County Sheriff's employee and Ventura County District Attorney's Office employee were among three men who were arrested this weekend for vandalizing a Black Lives Matter sign in Thousand Oaks.
The vandalized sign consisted of a tarp with the letters "BLM" painted on it. The poster was displayed along a fence on Westlake Boulevard where it had been posted for the last three weeks.
The sign had reportedly been damaged and removed multiple times since first being hung, so the owner of the sign set up a surveillance camera nearby to try and capture images of the culprits if they returned.
After one of the most recent crimes, the sign's owner decided to post pictures of the vandal on social media. Ventura County detectives said they recognized Sheriff's Office employee Darrin Stone from the images and initiated a criminal investigation immediately.
The surveillance video shows Stone using a knife to cut the sign down on Saturday, June 13. He was also captured slashing the sign again in the early morning hours of Friday, June 19.
Stone was contacted by detectives at his home Friday evening. Investigators said he cooperated and received a misdemeanor citation for vandalism. Stone has also been placed on paid administrative leave, pending the outcome of both criminal and administrative investigations.
Darrin Stone, 60, has been an employee with the Ventura County Sheriff's Office since 2005. He works as a service technician at the Pre-Trial Detention Facility in Ventura and was off-duty during the time of both incidents.
According to the Sheriff's Office, service technicians are non-sworn employees who primarily work in the Detention Services Division supervising inmates within their housing areas.
“I’m deeply disappointed that one of our employees involved himself in this type of illegal activity, especially when this is an infringement on someone’s First Amendment right to freedom of speech,” said Sheriff Bill Ayub. “We will not tolerate unlawful or unethical behavior by anyone employed by our agency. We hold our employees to the highest standards, and there will be consequences for this.”
Detectives continued to investigate other vandalisms of the sign.
These investigations led to the identification of 59-year-old Craig Anderson of Thousand Oaks, an employee with the Ventura County DA's Office. Video shows Anderson cutting the sign down and planning to remove it from the area before spotting the surveillance camera and abandoning the sign at the scene on May 31.
Anderson was contacted by investigators and issued a citation for vandalism Saturday afternoon.
The Sheriff's Office said Anderson worked as a non-sworn investigative assistant at the Ventura County DA's Office for the past four months. The DA's Office confirmed Anderson was off-duty at the time of the vandalism. Anderson has since resigned from his position.
58-year-old Jeffrey Moore of Thousand Oaks was the third person contacted regarding vandalism of the sign. Moore was caught on camera pulling up to the side of the road in his work truck before spray-painting graffiti on the sign on June 11.
Moore was also issued a citation for vandalism by investigators. The Sheriff's Office said Moore was identified using the company name and phone number displayed on the side of his work truck.
