

A Los Angeles County sheriff’s jailer was arrested in connection with a rash of burglaries of homes in upscale parts of Thousand Oaks, officials said.

Investigators do not believe the deputy, Khajana Jones, participated in any of the burglaries. But when they showed up last week at the home of one member of the suspected burglary ring, investigators said they discovered the deputy living there and helping to hide what appeared to be stolen property and large sums of cash.

Ventura County Sheriff's Department officials say the members of the burglary ring were selling the jewelry from their heists to fund lavish lifestyles-- shopping trips, luxury cars, thousands spent at high-end night clubs--for themselves and their girlfriends. A department spokesman would not say if Jones, 35, was romantically linked with Dennis Coleman, one of the alleged burglars.

The investigation into the ring has been weeks in the making, and has resulted in half a dozen arrests, with Ventura County sheriff’s officials saying they expect more to come. This month, investigators on the case alerted Los Angeles police that three suspects were in Pacific Palisades to commit a burglary. When LAPD officers tried to intercept the suspects on their way out of the area, the suspects sped off, hitting speeds in excess of 100 mph on Pacific Coast Highway as they threw jewelry from the car. They ditched their vehicle in Santa Monica, with two of the suspects evading police. Authorities arrested one man, Miles Chaissions, 20.

Authorities described the ring as being composed of a hard-core group of gang members and their girlfriends. The men, authorities said, have extensive violent records, including murder, kidnapping and bank robbery.

Police described brazen lawbreaking. Coleman, the man living with the Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy, was out on bail for a burglary in Moorpark. Authorities said he and two others had made a court appearance in that case last month, when they stopped off in Camarillo on their way back home to burglarize a residence.

Jones, a deputy for five years, has been relieved of duty with pay pending ongoing investigations, said Los Angeles County sheriff’s Capt. Mike Parker. She was assigned to the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood.

“Absolutely we do hold our personnel to a higher standard, and we await the results of these investigations,” Parker said. “The sheriff takes this very seriously.”

Authorities say they believe members of the group are responsible for seven burglaries in Ventura County since December of last year, and eight more in Los Angeles and Orange counties, with a combined property loss in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

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--Robert Faturechi

twitter.com/robertfaturechi

Photo: The Century Regional Detention Center in Lynwood. Credit: Branimir Kvartuc / Associated Press