Two suspects arrested in Ventura for Southern California burglary and fraud chain
VENTURA, Calif. - The Ventura County Sheriff's Detectives arrested two suspects on Thursday after investigating a series of crimes over the past month.
Tony Ta, a Newbury Park resident, and Luisana Cardenas, from Oxnard, were the suspects in multiple incidents of burglary, fraud, identity theft and conspiring to commit crimes in Ventura County.
Cardenas is also a suspect in two crimes that involved elder abuse.
After the arrest, detectives found multiple stolen items and an ATAK 9mm semi-automatic blank firing handgun in Ta and Cardenas' possessions.
The investigation began on Nov. 17, when Deputies with the Camarillo Police Station were notified of a vehicle burglary that took place in the Padre Serra Parish Church parking lot in Camarillo.
The vehicle had been broken into while the owners were attending church that morning. The victim's wallet, which included their identification and credit/debit cards, was among the items stolen.
Minutes after this vehicle burglary, Ta and Cardenas were seen through video surveillance using the victim's stolen credit/debit cards.
Using these videos, Camarillo Detectives worked with the Thousand Oaks Directed Enforcement Unit to quickly identify Ta and Cardenas as the suspects in the crimes.
The Ventura Sheriff's Office said that at the time of that crime, Ta and Cardenas were already wanted felons for previous Ventura County Crimes.
As detectives investigated, they learned of two more vehicle burglaries that took place in Camarillo and Thousand Oaks where Ta and Cardenas were suspects.
The two suspects were located on Thursday by Camarillo and Sheriff's Gang Unit Detectives inside a silver Infiniti G35 sedan in Ventura. The sedan was connected to many of the crimes they were suspects for.
Ta and Cardenas were then taken into custody for their outstanding felony warrants. Multiple stolen items were located and seized inside of their car and hotel room.
As Camarillo Detectives processed the stolen property, more victims of Ta and Cardenas' thefts were identified. These victims were from Ventura, Camarillo, Oxnard, Thousand Oaks, Moorpark, Canoga Park and Los Angeles.
Not all of the stolen items have been processed, however, so more victims may have yet to be identified.
Ta and Cardenas are in custody and will be booked on several charges including burglary, fraud and identity theft.
