May 22, 2023 - Ventura County Sheriff's Office officials report that the East County Investigations Unit, Thousand Oaks Special Enforcement Unit, and the Sheriff’s Crime Analysis Unit completed an 8-month investigation with the arrests of Darryl Kilgore, James Mitchell, Katerina Oertel, and Andre Holloway.

Between August 2022 and September 2022, the East County Forgery / Fraud Unit received reports of wallet thefts occurring in grocery stores and other similar locations in the City of Thousand Oaks. The reports were consistent in that older females were being targeted while they shopped. All the victims stored their purses in the upper storage area of their shopping cart.  The suspect(s) waited until the victims’ attention was drawn away from their shopping cart, unzipped their purse, and stole the wallet.  After the wallet theft, the suspect(s) completed large cash withdrawals from various banking institutions using the victims credit card and other personal identifying information.

Video surveillance was obtained of the fraudulent transactions.  In all the cases, the suspect completing the fraudulent transactions resembled the older female victims. The female suspect also appeared to be around the same age of the victims and had similar physical characteristics.

Then, in December 2022, the East County Forgery / Fraud Unit learned of additional Crime Reports involving new wallet thefts and new identity theft victims.  The motus operandi of these new reports were consistent with the cases received in August and September.  Through information gathering from a variety of allied law enforcement agencies, detectives learned these crimes occurring in the City of Thousand Oaks were consistent with an organized crime syndicate dubbed by investigators as the “Kilgore Crew.” Members of the Kilgore Crew were indicted in 2017 by the Western District of Washington State. It was also learned the leader of the Kilgore Crew was Darryl Kilgore.

Over the next several months, using a variety of investigative techniques, detectives determined that Darryl Kilgore and other co-conspirators committed numerous wallet thefts followed by large cash withdrawals within our communities and other neighboring jurisdictions.

On 3/15/23, detectives received information that Kilgore was possibly in the City of Thousand Oaks.  The East County Investigations Unit and Thousand Oaks Special Enforcement Unit acted on that information and located Kilgore and two other associates, James Mitchell and Katerina Oertel in the 2700 Block of Agoura Road. Detectives observed Kilgore as he and Oertel entered two neighboring grocery stores while Mitchell acted as the look-out.  Kilgore, Oertel, and Mitchell were ultimately arrested at the location for conspiracy to commit identity theft.  A search of Kilgore’s vehicle at the scene revealed additional evidence linking him and other co-conspirators to earlier cases involved in this investigation.

On 3/16/23, detectives executed residential search warrants in the 13000 Block of Wyandotte Street, Van Nuys and the 1600 Block of West Pacific Coast Highway, Wilmington.  Those search warrants yielded additional evidence along with the arrest of Andre Holloway, who is believed to have participated in several of the crimes involved in this investigation.

This is an on-going investigation and additional charges are expected to be filed against the individuals involved in this case and other co-conspirators who acted under the direction of Darryl Kilgore.     

Nature of Incident: Pickpocket and Identity Theft Suspects Arrested

Report Number: 22-124476, 23-33416

Location: 2700 Block of Agoura Road, Thousand Oaks

Date & Time: 3/15/23 @ 4:20 PM

Unit(s) Responsible: East County Investigations, Thousand Oaks Special Enforcement Unit, Sheriff’s Crime Analysis Bureau

Ventura County Crime Stoppers will pay up to $1,000 reward for information, which leads to the arrest and criminal complaint against the person(s) responsible for this crime.  The caller may remain anonymous.  The call is not recorded.  Call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477).

Source: Ventura County Sheriff's Office