DEPUTIES ARREST PAIR IN CONEJO AUTO BURGLARIES : OWNERS OF VEHICLES HAD REPORTED LOSS OF PURSES, BACKPACKS IN REGION.

Byline: Gloria Gonzales Daily News Staff Writer

Two men have been arrested in a months-long string of car burglaries throughout the Conejo Valley, officials said Tuesday.

Jeffrey Cummings, 23, and Christopher Hock, 28, are suspected of burglarizing dozens of cars in neighborhoods throughout the Conejo Valley over the past several months, said Detective T. Bennett of the sheriff's East Valley Station.

The pair was arrested about 4:30 a.m. Monday after sheriff's deputies responded to a call from a neighbor who reported two suspicious men cruising through the Oakbrook neighborhood of Thousand Oaks. Deputies found the pair driving along Northpark Street with their car headlights off. The deputies stopped the car and discovered stolen property inside, Bennett said.

Bennett noted that in recent months sheriff's detectives had noticed an increase in similar types of reported burglaries in the Conejo Valley.

``Sometimes they broke car windows and sometimes the car doors were unlocked,'' Bennett said of the burglars. ``They took easily stolen items like backpacks, purses and organizers. They weren't ripping stereos out of dashboards.''

After Monday's arrest, detectives discovered stolen property from a Camarillo auto burglary in a Simi Valley hotel room where Cummings and Hock had been staying.

Bennett said Cummings had been convicted recently for an auto burglary in Thousand Oaks. He was freed from jail and awaiting sentencing at the time of his arrest Monday.

Police also arrested a man and a woman, who apparently knew Cummings and Hock, on drug charges. Briana Eaton, 20, and Stephen Flaherty, 23, were arrested inside the Simi Valley hotel room.

All four remained in custody Tuesday in the Ventura County Jail. Each was scheduled to face arraignment in Ventura Municipal Court today.