The Los Angeles County Sheriff honored Thousand Oaks Police Department bike patrol members and a crime analyst for working together to stop two female criminals from preying on seniors.

Senior Dep. Michael Marco, Senior Dep. Ehren Nehira, Dep. Shannon McElveen, Dep. Tim Ragan and crime analyst Amanda Carr each received L.A. Star Scroll Awards, one of the highest honors given by the sheriff to those outside the department for heroic acts.

The Star Scroll is a special proclamation of appreciation on behalf of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department in recognition of extraordinary service to Los Angeles communities. The award, signed by L.A. Sheriff Lee Baca, is presented to individuals outside of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department who have demonstrated dedication to duty and exemplify investigative excellence.

The awards were given at the L.A. County Sheriff's Department Headquarters in Monterey Park on May 12, but the crimefighting work began on July 9, 2008, when Carr received a crime alert flier from the L.A. County Sheriff's Department describing a woman involved in an elder abuse fraud ring.

She and another woman posed as healthcare professionals, seeking large deposits of $20,000 from elderly victims for the promise of providing nursing care in the future, said Ventura County Sheriff's Department spokesperson Sgt. Don Aguilar.

Carr distributed the flier, which included an unidentified surveillance photo, throughout the Ventura County Sheriff's Department. Her action alerted patrol deputies who were using mobile data computers.

On July 24, 2008, the bike patrol team arrested two women possessing what police described as a significant quantity of methamphetamine and cash. During the investigation, a deputy recognized one of the women as the suspect on the flier.

Both women were arrested and convicted and are now in state prison after being linked through investigation to the elder abuse fraud scheme, which had bilked more than $130,000 in losses from seniors who had been duped into paying for nursing care services they never received. The theft ring had worked in several L.A. County communities, including Hawaiian Gardens, Gardena and Glendora.

The Bike Patrol Team worked closely with L.A. sheriff's investigators and secured additional critical evidence in the case by conducting searches in Ventura County. In the suspects' vehicle, deputies found wigs and nurses' uniforms that were used to conceal the women's identities as they portrayed themselves as nurses, Aguilar said.

Ventura County Sheriff Bob Brooks also recognized the bike patrol team and crime analyst for their efforts.

This type of interdepartmental information sharing is an example of how law enforcement can quickly and effectively distribute information using technology to apprehend offenders who cross over into various city and county jurisdictions, Aguilar said.