Oxnard Prowler Reported - Call #10052023

[M. Price]

SHERIFF 2x UNITS (INCLUDING K9 UNIT) - RESPOND TO 624 CHICKADEE LANE, OXNARD, CALLER REPORTS PROWLER OUTSIDE HER HOUSE

Quote

 

CALLER STATES A MAN HAS BEEN PEERING INTO HER BATHROOM AND BEDROOM WINDOWS

SUSPECT APPEARS TO BE RECORDING ON THEIR PHONE

SUSPECT APPEARS TO BE WHITE MALE DRESSED IN BLACK HOODIE

 

 

[P. Jones]

My dispatch radio had went off. A new call was made. I grabbed my radio, preparing to accept the call.

“Dispatch, this is unit 202. Go ahead and put 202 as responding.” I put my radio down, mentally and physically preparing for the call.

I turned on the sirens and began making my way to the location. A prowler watching a woman? How low can a person go? I was gonna make sure that the prowler would understand true justice.

[J. Patterson]

*not having gotten a reply from jones yet,i decide to attach,i key up 230s mic and mark my MDT* "county from 230,go ahead and put me on this,any ETA on the other unit's response" *i release the mic and start as slow a drive over as code 1 allows waiting to see whoelse is backing me up*

[P. Jones]

As I drive towards the home, I hear unit 230 speak into the Dispatch. I guess I have at least 3 more minutes until I arrive at the house, so I respond to his dispatch.

"This is 202 again. My ETA is 3 more minutes until I get to the woman's address." I place the radio back down, as always, and continue my drive to 624 Chickadee. 

A few minutes went by and I arrived at the caller's home. As I walked up the path towards her house, I proceed with caution and looked around my surroundings just so I can try spotting the prowler. I knocked on the door, telling her I'm the police, only to see her open it. I pull out my notebook to write information down. I let dispatch know that I am on the scene.

'Hi, Ma'am. Are you the one that called about a prowler? I want to help you, can you let me know everything first? What does the man look like?'

'Thank God, you're here,' the woman said. 'White, dresses in black.' the woman finished. She had a worried look on her face. I felt sad and empathetic for her.

'I heard about you recording the event on your phone? If you don't mind, I'd like to see it?' I told her, with a gentle tone of voice.

[J. Patterson]

"This is 202 again. My ETA is 3 more minutes until I get to the woman's address." 

 

"230 to 202 direct,ill meet you there" * i say clipping the mic back and maybe 30 seconds after he marks on scene i round the corner onto chikadee,easily spotting 202s unit i pull into the women's driveway,allbeit partially given the really tight street were on and step out walking up her path to the house*  'catch me up Jones' * i give the women a nod* 'hello ma'am'

Edited October 7, 2023 by Vanguard
fixed typos

[P. Jones]

I see the Sarge pull up into the tight driveway, he walked up to me and asked me to put him up to speed. The woman was still in front of us, worried as ever. I realized that even I hadn't introduced myself, so I decided to do so.

'I'm real sorry, ma'am, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Deputy Patrick Jones and this is Sergeant Jason Patterson, he's one of the best. Sarge, to catch you up to speed, she was just about to show me the recording of the man.'

'Right, here it is.' the woman says.

On her phone, we see a white man with black clothes outside of her house, in the dark, looking through her window on the sidewalk. It's clear that the woman is traumatized, and Patterson and I share a look. 

'Ma'am, you're doing a brave thing, showing us this video, you know? It's essential to getting this man off the streets. Can you tell us when and where this was recorded?' I ask her.

'Last night at 11. He had...been looking through. I've seen him around, definitely not the best kind of guy. I saw him through my bedroom window...I  was just about to take my clothes off and that's when I saw him.' the woman replies. I noticed she definitely had cold, scared shudders go throughout her body.

'You stay safe, right here, okay? What's your name?' I ask. Patterson is still standing next to me.

'Dana.'

'All right, well, Dana? You stay here in a safe place and Sergeant Patterson and I are gonna search your house to look for any signs of a possible break-in or anything like that, okay?' I say. 'If we happen to find anything or anyone suspicious in your house, we may have to you leave your home temporarily. Do you have any relatives or friends you able to stay with?'

'Okay, okay,' the woman responds with obvious quivers in her tone. I finish taking my notes. 'My mom, I'm able to stay with her, possibly.'

"Dispatch, this is 202 and 230, we at the caller's home,' I say with my radio in my face. 'She showed us the video of our suspect watching her through her window. We're about to search the vicinity of the house for any signs of break-in or any other clues about our prowler. We'll keep y'all updated. We may or may not have to evacuate her from her home temporarily."

I begin looking around the front-yard with intent of finding more clues about the case. We already knew the man was guilty, but we had to be sure he wasn't listening in on this conversation nor hiding somewhere in her house.

[J. Patterson]

* the new guy,who ive only met in the past few minutes catch's me up,i dont know if its cause of the prowler or maybe the women hes been talking with just has shot nerves either way he brings up the searching of the house then i figure its time i say something * 'ma'am,we'll search the property,ive also got a dog,thats trained for searchs,do you mind if i run him through the property aswell?'

 

women: 'uhhh,i-if you feel its needed s-sure off.um i mean sergeant'

 

* i nod and look at jones* ' ill back you up,if we see something suspicious,ill get my dog and search more in depth,your point ' * i tuen and address the women again "ok ma'am so just to confirm,we'll clear your house and property and you gave me permission to walk my k-9 through if something warrents doing so'

 

*she nods again,a little less shakily at least for the moment* women: y-yes,anything else?

me: 'any weapons in the house,anywhere you dont want us to search? 

women: no weapons and  unless hes in my underware draw my jewlery box or where i store my bras no everythings open'

* i nod again* 'ok ma'am,well do our sweep then you can walk through with us and point out anything that might be outta place that we miss the first time around' * i look back to jones*,i got your back,dont forget to check the corners,these guys hide in bushs all day or night sometimes,so if hes here hes gonna try to sneak off or jump us and run'

Edited October 7, 2023 by Vanguard

[P. Jones]

'I got your back, dont forget to check the corners, these guys hide in bushes all day or night sometimes, so, if he's here he's gonna try to sneak off or jump us and run.' Sergeant Patterson says to me. 

'Roger that, Sarge.' I say, nodding. He and his dog begin going into the house, with me following after. The woman stays outside, knowing that she can holler to us in case she sees the man.

I stay alert, keeping my head on a swivel, turning it to all angles, and keeping my ears open. Patterson and his dog are actively searching through the house, with the dog sniffing all over. I make my way to the kitchen, opening all cabinets and the refrigerator, looking for anything suspicious. We make our way to the backyard, looking through the bushes and other places that the prowler may be hiding. We also analyzed for any footprints or discarded items, but it was just trash left all over. Other than some chips in the doors or walls, there wasn't much sign of a forced entry - though anything was possible.

'Dana, our caller? She said that she had never seen our suspect in her house, but it's possible he's been inside whenever she's away,' I say to Patterson. Patterson's dog, who I was not familiar with, was still sniffing and actively listening to his surroundings. 'There could be a listening device somewhere, so let's search every nook and cranny to look for any microphones.'

I kept looking around the house and out to the backyard. Dana was still outside, looking nervous, and we were, obviously, inside. This prowler was gonna go down, one way or another. I began thinking that, in order to catch this guy, we may need to lay down bait.

[J. Patterson]

*as we clear the house i keep tumbleing the origional note of the call when we get to the master bedroom i glance out the window*' hey jones,when we exit,do me a favor and go over to those bushs at the end of her yard a sec and tell me what you can see from them in terms of through the bathroom window and her bedroom sliding door,Ajax and i will wait here,see if you can see either of us,call it a hunch as we still gotta finish sweeping her yard too,and the original call notes said the guy was filming  her,if i was gonna watch somebody or set a camera up,im a hunter so id camouflage whatever camera id use and at least to me,those shrubs look like they might line up ,what about you?'

Edited October 7, 2023 by Vanguard

[P. Jones]

‘Hey Jones, when we exit, do me a favor and go over to those bushes at the end of her yard for a second and tell me what you can see from them in terms of through the bathroom window and her bedroom sliding door. Ajax and I will wait here. See if you can see either of us, call it a hunch, and remember, we still gotta finish sweeping her yard too.’ Patterson said to me. Ajax was sniffing.

‘Copy that, Sarge. I got you.’ I nod in acknowledgment of Sergeant Patterson's request and proceed to complete our search of the house. We clear each room methodically, ensuring there are no signs of the prowler inside. 

Once we finished clearing the house, I step out of the master bedroom, where Sergeant Patterson and K-9 Max are waiting, and make my way toward the bushes at the end of the yard.

“Dispatch, we've cleared the house, but we're conducting an additional assessment of the exterior. I'll report any findings.” I say into my radio.

I carefully approach the bushes again, taking cover behind them to get a better view of the bathroom window and the bedroom sliding door. I peer through the foliage, attempting to observe Ajax, the dog, and Sergeant Patterson without being noticed.

As I scan the area, I check for any potential vantage points that the prowler might have used earlier to peer into the house, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious.

I can see them in the window, clearly for the most part, and it is clear that the prowler has been inside her house or yard at least once.

‘Sarge! I can see you and the dog. He's been here before, I can tell. What should we do next?’ I ask.

[J. Patterson]

'Sarge! I can see you and the dog. He's been here before, I can tell. What should we do next?’

 

*thought so,gotcha you sick prick,not jones obviously but the guy were looking for* 'right,look for a game cam,or footprints ,anything like that im heading your way!' *ajax and i move back through the house,after i close the womens window and sliding door back to how they were when we entered and quickly move across the yard when i get to jones i also examine the area* ' ok so you saw us,i only saw you when you stood up,it rained last night so whatever sent the guy left has been diluted but he still will have foorprints,did you finfd any hidden cameras,trail or game cams to be specfic,i know the ones i use i can pull em up on my phone if im near by via bluetooth i just cant wipe there SD'cards without plugging them into a computer or psyically eraseing them on site via the cameras controls,reguardless if we find tracks we get direction of travel,we get that and we might beable to bust this guy tonight,provided we know the times he likes to prowel'

[P. Jones]

I saw some footprints near the bush. He had been here recently, this had confirmed it. Patterson and Ajax walked up to me. I decide to take a deep breath, just to remain calm with the situation.

‘Sarge,’ I begin. ‘He was here. There’s boot prints in the mud. I mean, they pretty faint, but they here, all right. I haven’t seen any cameras yet, but I’ll look through these bushes.’

I look through the bushes, just to see if there was a camera hidden somewhere. As I look through, I find myself touching an odd branch. I examine it closer and I see it isn’t a branch at all, rather a camera.

‘Sarge, I stand corrected. There’s a camera. This guy’s a huge creep, it’s recording and everything.’ 

[P. Jones]

I keep on searching through the bushes for more clues. I already noticed the camera and footprints, but I begin to think there is a deeper issue with this case.

Sergeant Patterson and Ajax the dog were looking at me, searching for more information about the prowler incident.

I don’t find much information about the incident anymore, given I have found a vast majority of creepy items used to spy on that poor woman named Dana. 

‘Damn it!’ I exclaim, still searching the backyard. ‘We already found some goddamn cameras and footprints in this yard, there must be something more to this call!’

[M. Price]

As I continue to monitor this call the dispatcher opposite of me, Big Jim who has been eating fried chicken on the job, snaps his greasy fingers at me to get my attention.

'Alright Jim, what's up?'

Looking up from my monitor, to see what he wants, he informs me of the call he is on cause it might be related to this call.  He tells me that his caller is the house next door to mine and that there is a man dressed in back hiding in some bushes in their backyard.  Thanking Big Jim I relay this info to the patrol deputies on scene.

"230, 202, ERT, we've just received another call in relation to this one.  The next door neighbor is reporting a man matching the description of our suspect hiding in the bushes of their backyard.  This is the house next door, 626 Chickadee Lane"

[M. Price]

Keeping my eyes on this call I wait what feels like weeks until I hear the response from the deputies on scene.  Hearing the words 'suspect not found, returning to patrol' is not fun as I close the call.