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Two arrested on suspicion of burglary, arson
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More from Other NewsTwo Thousand Oaks men were arrested Tuesday on suspicion of burglarizing a $2.4 million home in Lynn Ranch and setting it on fire last Friday, police said.
Michael Shearer, 22, of Thousand Oaks and Michael White, 18, of Newbury Park, were booked on arson and first-degree residential burglary, a felony, Thousand Oaks Police Det. Eric Buschow said.
Shearer was also booked on possession of a deadly weapon. He had brass knuckles and an expandable baton on him when he was arrested, Buschow said.
The pair were booked into Ventura County Main Jail. Each is being held in lieu of $50,000 bail.
"It's not a very common thing for people to break into a house and torch it on the way out," Buschow said. "They said they did it to try and cover up evidence of their being there."
A community member went to police after hearing one of the suspects brag about the incident, which took place in the early morning hours Friday, Buschow said.
The fire in the 800 block of Calle Laredo in an unincorporated area inside Thousand Oaks was reported at 3:02 a.m. When firefighters and Ventura County Sheriff's Deputies arrived the house was fully engulfed in flames.
The Ventura County Fire Department's arson investigators and the Sheriff's Department, which runs the Thousand Oaks Police Department, worked together on the investigation.
Investigators determined the house, which was for sale, had been broken into and ransacked. Shearer and White spent up to an hour taking items out of the house and loading them into a sports utility vehicle, Buschow said.
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