Suspects arrested in tagging

Quick and quiet police bicyclists who pedal the streets of Thousand Oaks in the fight against crime united with gang unit special enforcement officers last week. Their purpose for teaming together was solving a graffiti crime.

Gang-related tagging at the Wilbur Oaks Apartments on Wilbur Road occurred on Thurs., Aug. 23. A gang name was sprayed in public view on a large wall.

The bike and gang units combined resources and obtained information on two 18yearolds who were arrested the next day.

Patrol deputies Patrick Hawthorne and Brent Miller with Special Enforcement Dep. Brian Bakers arrested Daniel Ruelas at a business on Agoura Road where he worked.

Hawthorne and Miller arrested Vincente Virgen later that evening at his parents' home on Galsworthy Street in Thousand Oaks.

Both men were booked at the Ventura County Jail in lieu of bail of $100,000 set for each.

- Nancy Needham