by Cindy Summers

Police reports are provided to us by the Ventura  Police Department and are not the opinions of  the Ventura Breeze. All suspects mentioned  are assumed to be innocent until proven guilty  in a court of law.

Domestic Disturbance and Discharge of a Firearm into an Inhabited Building

On June 16, at approximately 8pm, patrol officers responded to multiple reports of a domestic disturbance with a gun shot heard inside of a room at a motel in the 800 block of East Thompson Blvd. When officers arrived they spoke with the victim. The suspect, 25 year old David Posey, had fled the location prior to officers’ arrival. While the initial officers investigated the incident, additional officers searched the surrounding area for the suspect and found him hiding nearby.

The investigation revealed that there was a physical altercation that occurred in the room. At one point during the altercation, the suspect fired one round from a handgun into the ceiling of the room. There was an occupied room directly above the ceiling.

At the conclusion of the investigation, the suspect was booked into Ventura County Jail on the misdemeanor charge of domestic battery and felony discharge of a firearm into an inhabited building.

Felon in Possession of a Firearm

On June 16 at 6:60am, the Ventura Police Command Center received a 911 call of a possible kidnapping in progress involving a Blue Chevy Malibu vehicle.

When officers arrived on scene they contacted two 16 year old female victims. During the course of the investigation officers were able to determine that the suspect had been involved in an argument with the two victims and threatened to harm them. The suspect, 18 year old Bakersfield resident Tyequez Baker, demanded the victims get out of the vehicle or he would harm them and brandished a hand gun. The victims got out of the vehicle and one of the victims reached into the vehicle to get her cell phone, which was still inside the vehicle. As she reached through the open window the suspect rolled up the window, trapping the victim’s arm. The suspect then drove out of the parking lot into the street and through an intersection dragging the victim, whose arm was still trapped in the window. The suspect pulled into another parking lot and the victim was able to free her arm from the window. The suspect drove the vehicle from the scene and was last seen entering the 101 north bound at Johnson.

A few minutes later a member of the Ventura Police Department Patrol Taskforce that was working in the downtown area noticed a vehicle matching the description of the suspect vehicle traveling on the northbound 101 freeway at a high rate of speed and attempted to make an enforcement stop to investigate. The vehicle sped up and refused to yield. The officer along with another Ventura Police Department Patrol officer pursued the vehicle on the freeway for approximately 18 miles. During the pursuit the suspect threw several items from the vehicle including a loaded handgun. The suspect was finally stopped just north of La Conchita and taken into custody without incident. All of the items that were thrown from the vehicle were recovered, and the firearm was found to be stolen out of Bakersfield.

Vandalism to Church

On June 24, at approximately 7am, officers responded to a possible in progress burglary to the residence at the Ventura Mission. The residents were inside when they heard a loud noise at the front door. When they checked, they found the front door had been forced/ broken open and the suspect was inside. When officers arrived, the suspect, 33 year old Ventura resident Daniel Gutierrez, was uncooperative and refused to exit the residence. After numerous attempts to get the suspect to come outside, the officers deployed the K9 and the suspect immediately surrendered. At the conclusion of the investigation, the suspect was booked for vandalism to a church (felony), unlawful entry into a residence (misdemeanor), possession of methamphetamine (misdemeanor) and possession of narcotics paraphernalia (misdemeanor). No one was injured during this incident.

Why Wasn’t he in Jail?

On June 25, at approximately 10:45pm, the Ventura Police Department Command Center received a call of a subject on a bicycle casing vehicles near the WAV in the 100 block of S. Ventura Ave. The caller reported that the same subject, later identified as 28 year old vagrant David Kocalis, had possibly broken into his vehicle earlier in the month and returned. Officers responded to the call and detained Kocalis.

During the investigation, officers viewed a surveillance video from the previously reported burglary and positively identified Kocalis as the same suspect. He was arrested and later booked into the Ventura County Jail for burglary.

According to the Ventura County Superior Court website, Kocalis was convicted of five separate offenses in 2016: resisting arrest, petty theft, possession of controlled substance and possession of stolen property. In 2017, he was convicted of resisting arrest and petty theft. In 2018, he was convicted of resisting arrest.

Why Wasn’t he in Jail?

On June 25, at approximately 6:45pm, officers responded to a call regarding a suspicious occupied vehicle in the 600 block of Moses Lane. The vehicle was reported stolen. When officers arrived, they ordered the suspect out of the vehicle, but he did not cooperate. The suspect, 24 year old Ventura resident James Deckers, started the vehicle, rammed a nearby parked vehicle and fled from officers. Officers briefly pursued after the suspect, but they discontinued the pursuit when the suspect began driving on the wrong side of the roadway on both Johnson Drive and Telephone Road. The suspect continued to flee the area until he ultimately parked the vehicle near an apartment complex in the 8000 block of Telephone Road and fled into the nearby neighborhood. The Ventura Police Command Center then began receiving additional calls from concerned residents reporting that the suspect was running through their yards. Officers began searching for the suspect in the neighborhood, and while the suspect was fleeing from them, he forced his way into an occupied home in the 8000 block of Emerald Street and hid from officers. After a lengthy search, the suspect was located and taken into custody inside of the house where he was hiding.

According to the Ventura County Superior Court website, in 2018 Deckers was convicted of driving under the influence and possession of narcotics paraphernalia. Additionally, he was also arrested for theft, resisting arrest and possession of stolen property.

Grand Theft, Identity Theft, Check Forgery – Arrest

In March of 2017, the victim, a private business owner from Ventura, had an audit conducted on his finances and learned that his financial assistant, 42 year old Thousand Oaks resident Sarah Coleen Peet, had stolen in excess of $100,000 from him over the course of approximately 3 years. The victim fired Peet and later called the Ventura Police Department to file a report.

Over the next several months, Major Crimes Detectives authored search warrants for bank records that revealed Peet had in fact been fraudulently transferring money from the victim’s account into her own personal account for the past several years. Furthermore, it appeared she was currently doing the same with her new employer, a business in Ventura, where she was working as an accountant. Detectives contacted her new employer, and after an audit was done, they learned Peet had stolen over $60,000 from them.

On June 27, at approximately 7am, Detectives contacted Peet near her residence in the 1700 Block of Orinda Ct., in Thousand Oaks. Peet was taken into custody without incident, and detectives executed a search warrant at her residence. Peet was later booked at the Ventura County Jail for grand theft, identity theft and check forgery, all felonies.

According to Ventura County court records, in 2003 Peet was convicted of grand theft and theft by computer access. If you have had any business interactions with Sarah Peet, and believe you may have been a victim, please call Det. Ed McCain at (805) 339-4478.