Ojai man assaulted by invaders
by Lenny Roberts

Two masked and armed men, believed to have been in their mid-20s, are being sought by authorities for allegedly robbing two men inside their Crestview Drive home late Sunday night.
According to Sheriff's Detective Joe Evans, conflicting statements by homeowner Bruce Ditchfield and 20-year-old renter, John Reason, indicate that there may have been a third person involved in the 10:30 p.m. robbery.
The perpetrators reportedly ransacked the home and took personal property, cash and checks after tying up the victims with plastic tie wrap. Ditchfield, 46, said a pillowcase was put over his head after he was bound, but was able to describe the assailants as both being approximately 5 feet, 10 inches tall, Caucasian and wearing black beanie-type hats and black bandannas to hide their faces.
"The guy with the gun was very calm and cool," Ditchfield said.
Before deputies arrived at the house, the victims discovered an Uzi-type, semi-automatic, assault-looking handgun, later determined to be registered to a Ventura man, in a duffel bag at the front door, which was full of and adjacent to thousands of dollars worth of camera and computer equipment the suspected robbers had gathered from throughout the house but inexplicably left behind. Ditchfieldlater confirmed that $500 in cash, $1,500 in checks, credit cards, a cell phone, a speaker and a computer hard-drive had been taken.
"They cut me loose out of the blue," Ditchfield recalled. "I pulled the pillowcase off of my head, got up, and looked outside to make sure they were gone before I got a knife and cut Johnny loose."
Ditchfield added that they picked up the duffel bag and the Uzi and two full clips spilled out.
Evans did not seem especially surprised that the weapon was left behind.
"It's pretty unusual but not unheard of in these types of robberies to find a weapon at a crime scene," he said.
Ditchfield said that he was watching television when the men entered and began making demands.
"It would be nice to know what this was all about," he said. "When they came in, I was lying on the couch. One of them said, 'Where are the tapes - let's have them.' I told them that there are no tapes here, and they tied my hands behind my back. I told them that they had made a mistake and they were in the wrong house."
At that point, Ditchfield said that the other man kicked him in the back, breaking a rib, and punched in the side of the head. Additional denials by the victim led to a search of the house.
Evans said that Ventura County has generally been immune to actual home invasion crimes, where a suspect is targeted and followed home before being assaulted and robbed, and that this crime is probably just an isolated incident
"It appears that the victims in this case were targeted by the suspects and that it was a random crime, the first of its kind in memory," Evans said.

© 2002 The Ojai Valley News

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