THOUSAND OAKS : Reward Asked in Pizzeria Robberies

Hoping to nab the thieves who have robbed five Thousand Oaks pizzerias, Sheriff’s Lt. Mike Brown tonight will ask the City Council to put up a $1,000 reward for information leading to convictions.

“Sometimes a reward makes all the difference in the world,” Brown said. “It’s brought witnesses out in the past . . . it can be just enough to make or break (a case).”

Crime Stoppers has already offered a $1,000 reward in the case, but Brown said he wanted to up the ante.

Detectives suspect that three or four people have been robbing restaurants up and down the coast. They have hit 15 restaurants between Agoura and San Luis Obispo, including the five Thousand Oaks pizzerias, Brown said.

Police have arrested one suspect, Christopher Bass of Goleta, but are still looking for two or three others, Lt. Bill Montijo said.

To track down Bass, Ventura County sheriff’s deputies teamed up with the Ventura and Oxnard police departments, and the Santa Barbara police and sheriff’s departments. Each department is now working on its own to identify additional suspects, Montijo said.