Ventura County Fire Department

As the holiday season approaches, the Ventura County Fire Department is once again supporting the Spark of Love toy drive and asking citizens, businesses and organizations in the county to take part as well.

All Ventura County Fire Stations are drop-off points for new, unwrapped toys, sporting goods or educational supplies for the annual ABC 7 Firefighters’ “Spark of Love” Toy Drive. The program will run through December 24.
Gifts donated here stay here. The Ventura County Children’s Services Auxiliary will distribute items collected to those in need within Ventura County. Those wishing to make a monetary donation can make their checks payable to Children’s Services Auxiliary, tax-exempt #77-0054936.

Last year, 9,000 court-dependent children and children of low-income families in Ventura County received more than 34,000 toys and gifts through the program.

The Metrolink “Spark of Love” Holiday Train Express – a 450-ton train, decorated with garlands and more than 50,000 lights – will be making stops in Ventura County on Sunday, November 23, and Sunday, December 14.
Sunday, November 23

Simi Valley 5:00 – 5:45 pm
Sunday, December 14

Montalvo 5:00 – 5:30 pm

Oxnard 5:45 – 6:15 pm

Camarillo 6:30 – 7:00 pm

Moorpark 7:30 – 8:00 pm

There will be fire apparatus on display at all stops and firefighters will be there to greet people. The public is invited to bring out their donations, have a fun time and start the holiday season by giving to the less fortunate.

Those in need appreciate your generosity and the Ventura County Fire Department thanks you for your support.

Ventura County Sheriff's Department

(S)uspects, City of residence, Age, Charges

Cortez, Manuel, Oxnard, 25 * Parole Violation warrant
* Felon in Possession of a Firearm
* Possession of a Silencer
* Felon in Possession of Ammunition
* Under the Influence of a Controlled Substance While in Possession of a Firearm.

During the second week of November, gang investigators began receiving reports that an El Rio Gang member was in possession of an assault rifle. Investigators learned that the subject was Manual Cortez. Cortez was on parole and currently wanted on a no bail warrant for violating his parole. He was listed as an “armed and dangerous” fugitive by the California Department of Corrections.

On 11-15-2008, Gang investigators found Cortez hiding in an apartment on Gonzales Road, Oxnard. He was taken into custody without incident. Cortez was found to be in possession of an assault rifle with a silencer. He was arrested for the above-listed charges and booked into the Ventura County Jail without bail.

The Sheriff’s Gang Unit has arrested 26 people and seized 6 guns over the last week in an effort to reduce a spike in gang-related drive by shootings. The Ventura County Sheriff’s Department is committed to reducing gang violence in its jurisdiction through aggressive enforcement. Anyone having information on gang-related activity is encouraged to call the Gang Tip Hotline at 1-888-58GANGS.

Ventura County Sheriff's Department

The Sheriff’s Gang Unit continued its anti-gang saturation patrol on Wednesday by arresting seven subjects and seizing one gun. This enforcement stance is an effort by the Sheriff’s Department to stem a recent spike in drive by shootings.

Previously on 11-9-2008, a 17 year-old male was one of 14 people arrested during a three day enforcement operation by the Sheriff’s Gang Unit. The 17 year old’s arrest began just before midnight when gang investigators saw three gang members in the 2900 block of Friedrich Rd. As gang investigators approached the three, two of the subjects ran. Deputies gave chase and caught the 17 year old a short distance away. During the arrest, the juvenile removed a gun from his waistband. He was disarmed by a deputy and taken into custody. The two others who fled were not apprehended at that time.

Follow-up investigation led deputies to identify one of the subjects that fled as Jorge Frutos Flores, who is on parole for grand theft auto. On Wednesday, gang investigators arrested Flores at his home for violating his parole by associating with gang members.

Investigators also contacted and arrested several gang associates of the 17-year-old male, including Jorge Jose Flores. Gang investigators went to Flores’ residence in Oxnard, in an attempt to serve a narcotics arrest warrant. Deputies knocked on the door and received no response. When they entered the home through the front door, Flores threw a loaded .45 caliber handgun and a box of ammunition out a bedroom window. Flores was arrested for the outstanding narcotics warrant and for being a felon in possession of a loaded firearm.

Also arrested during the enforcement efforts were Anthony Sotelo for a counterfeiting warrant, Andrew Lozano for a narcotics warrants, Gabriel Morales and Vincente Flores both for weapons charges, and James Campbell for a no-bail hate crime warrant.

Ventura County Sheriff's Department

Suspects, City of residence Age
Johnny Ballesteros, Oxnard 42
Cecilia Calderon, Oxnard 27
David Sinsun Oxnard, 24
Bernice Magallanes Port Hueneme, 34

The above listed suspects were all arrested after they cashed fraudulent checks in various jurisdictions of Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties. All of the checks utilized either the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department Logo and account routing number or a fraudulent business name and the Sheriff’s Department account routing number. The investigation is ongoing and additional arrests are anticipated. Anyone with information regarding this case is urged to contact Detective Rettura.

Ventura County Fire Department

September 22 was a typical Monday at Fire Station 32 in Newbury Park until a call came in reporting that an infant had stopped breathing. The 911 call set off a chain of events that would ultimately save the baby’s life.
Captain Rich Sauer, Engineer Cathy Schureman and Firefighter/Paramedic Jeff Golden responded to the home of Jack and Tracy Garza near the intersection of Borchard Rd. and Wendy Dr. where they met the Garza’s two day-old baby boy who had stopped breathing.

Fire department dispatchers had been giving the family of little Ryland Garza instruction on CPR over the phone, but once he arrived on scene, Firefighter Golden began caring for Ryland. The firefighters took over CPR and monitored the little boy’s condition. CPR continued in the ambulance as he was being transported to Los Robles Hospital. Before the ambulance arrived at the hospital, Ryland’s color returned and he began taking spontaneous breaths. Emergency room doctors stabilized Ryland and continued his care.

Thanks to the knowledge, hard work and dedication of all the people involved in his care, Ryland was awake, moving around and eating well by the next Sunday when he was released from the hospital.

After hearing the news that the baby was well and being released, Golden said, “I am so excited about the good news. This type of call doesn’t always have a happy ending. We don’t get calls like this very often, and they’re very stressful, but this is where the advanced life support training we do really pays off.”

The fire department’s ongoing CPR training program is administered by department nurse Katy Hadduck and every CPR save is special to her.

“Our firefighters work so hard to save lives,” she said, “and sadly, sometimes they can’t. That’s why whenever we have a successful save like this, I go to the station and make a batch of my special French toast for the crew. It’s my way of saying, ‘nice job!’”

Hadduck and the crew from Engine 32 will be joined for breakfast tomorrow morning by the Garza family, including Ryland.

“Nothing makes breakfast taste better than celebrating a life,” said Hadduck.

Ventura County Sheriff's Department

Location: 800 Block of Cummings Road, Santa Paula
(S)uspects, (V)ictims, (W)itnesses City of residence Age
Alfonso Hernandez Santa Paula 75

During the last week of October 2008, detectives from the Sheriff’s Department Street Narcotics Enforcement Team observed what appeared to be narcotics sales occurring near Santa Paula High School. The suspect in these alleged sales was identified as Alfonso Hernandez, a 75-yearold resident of the unincorporated area of Ventura County near Santa Paula. On November 6, 2008, Hernandez was seen conducting what was believed to be narcotics sales in the City of Santa Paula and was detained by detectives. The subsequent search warrant served on Hernandez’ person, vehicle, and residence revealed 113 bindles of methamphetamine and cocaine. The combined weight of the narcotics was approximately 2 ounces with an estimated street value of $5,300.00. Hernandez was arrested for possession of methamphetamine and cocaine for sale, and he was booked into the Sheriff’s Main Jail.

Ventura County Sheriff's Department

Suspects, Charge, City of residence, Age
Carlos Arceo, Felony narcotics warrant, Oxnard, 30
Bryon Balard, Felony narcotics warrant, Oxnard, 41
Anita Cortez, Felony narcotics warant, Oxnard, 24
Sean Coulter, Felon in possession of gun, Oxnard, 27
Poss sawed off rifle
Poss firearm while under influence of methamphetamine
Amy Wilber, UI Methamphetamine, Oxnard, 21
Anthony Bates, Poss of narcotics, Oxnard, 33
Abel Estrada, Violation of parole, Oxnard, 50
UI methamphetamine
Mario Delgado, Felon in poss of ammunition, Oxnard, 43
Teresa McCall, Violation of parole, Oxnard, 46
Poss of narcotics
Adriane Bojorquez, UI narcotics, Oxnard, 27
Edward Velasquez, UI narcotics, Oxnard, 28
Violation of parole
Luis Uribe, Warrant, Oxnard, 21
Male Juvenile, Poss of concealed firearm, Oxnard, 17
Male Juvenile, Poss of concealed firearm, Oxnard, 17

The Sheriff’s Gang Unit made 14 arrests and seized 4 guns while patrolling areas recently hit by gang violence and investigating recent shootings . The saturation patrols are part of a response by the Sheriff’s Department aimed at reducing a recent increase in drive-by shootings. Over the last two weeks, five people have been shot in three drive-by shootings in the unincorporated area of El Rio and Saticoy. Gang investigators believe all three shootings are gang related.

On 11-6-2008, gang investigators went to a home in the 3600 blk of Nyeland in an attempt to arrest Carlos Arceo and Bryon Balard. Both had felony narcotics warrants for their arrest. Both subjects ran and were arrested after a short chase.

On 11-7-2008, gang investigators were assisting homicide detectives in the 100 blk of Juanita, Oxnard. During the investigation, Anita Cortez was arrested for an outstanding narcotics warrant. Gang investigators also recovered an assault rifle from the home.

Later that night, investigators went to the home of Sean Coulter in the 300 blk of Corsicana, El Rio. They discovered that Coulter was in possession of a sawed off rifle with a high capacity magazine. Coulter, who is a convicted felon, was also under the influence of methamphetamine. Investigators also arrested Coulter’s girlfriend, Amy Wilbur, for being under the influence of methamphetamine.

The following day, members of the Gang Unit arrested nine more individuals for a variety of charges, including two male juveniles who were in possession of concealed loaded firearms.

The Ventura County Sheriff’s Department is committed to reducing gang violence in its jurisdiction.

California Highway Patrol

On November 9th, 2008 at approximately 3:05 p.m., a minor injury traffic collision occurred on southbound SR-1, south of Calleguas Creek. The collision involved a marked, California Highway Patrol unit, and a 2004 Ford Mustang.

Ian Matthew Roven, twenty years of age from Malibu, CA, was driving a 2004 Ford Mustang southbound in the #1 lane on SR-1 (Pacific Coast Highway) at an unknown rate of speed, and was approaching the Calleguas Creek under crossing. Officer J. Perry was in his marked patrol vehicle and was arriving on scene to a separate roll-over collision which occurred in the center divider. Officer Perry’s vehicle was partially within the #1 lane as he was turning into the center divider. The emergency lights of the patrol vehicle were activated at the time. For unknown reasons, Mr. Roven failed to see the patrol vehicle in front of him and was unable to stop in time. The front of Mr. Roven’s vehicle then struck the left rear side of the patrol vehicle. The impact caused the patrol vehicle to spin around, and caused moderate damage to the Mustang.

Officer Perry was taken to the Ventura County Medical Center but was later released with only minor injuries. Mr. Roven was uninjured from the collision. The incident is still under investigation at this point in time.

Units from the Moorpark Police Department responded to the parking lot of the Target Store on Los Angeles Avenue for a report of a subject being battered. Upon arrival they found Javier Feliz, 18, Fillmore, and David Polito, 20, Moopark, in the parking lot and that they had been battered by 2 Hispanic male suspects. In addition to battering Polito, they also demanded money and threatened to harm him if he called police. The suspects fled in a vehicle prior to arrival of deputies.

Based upon a vehicle description provided by Polito, the area was checked and the vehicle was located in Miller Park. When the suspects saw deputies approaching, they fled on foot into the park. A subsequent search of the area led to the apprehension and arrest of Jeffrey DePaz, 21, Moorpark, and Henry Perez, 22, Moorpark, for battery, attempted robbery and intimidating a witness. In addition to the criminal charges, DePaz was charged with a variety of traffic violations. Both were subsequently booked into the Ventura County Jail. Bail for Perez is $100,000 and $116,000 for DePaz.

Preliminary investigation indicates the attack on Felix was motivated by animosity as he and the suspects are known to one another. The attack on Polito appears to have been random and motivated by money.

Ventura County Sheriff's Department

The Ventura County Sheriff’s Department has added a new feature to its website (http://www.vcsd.org). Now, both crime and arrest data can be retrieved for specific geographic areas within the Sheriff’s jurisdiction. By clicking on “Crime Stats” and selecting either crime or arrest information by specific area, the user can isolate data from a region of the Sheriff’s jurisdiction known as a Reporting District. Once the selection is made, a map of the county will open. The user can then select a specific Reporting District within the larger geographical area. Each Reporting District is fairly small; therefore, this will give the user far more precise information regarding crime and arrest information for that area. Instructions on how to use the system are also included on the website.

Ventura County Sheriff's Department

Acting on information received from the community, Sheriff’s Narcotics detectives initiated an investigation into David Samaniego for narcotics sales. The investigation led to the issuance of a search warrant for Samaniego’s residence in the 900 block of Coronado St, Oxnard. On October 29, Samaniego was seen driving from the residence and was detained. The search warrant was served on the vehicle and the residence. Detectives located nearly one ounce of methamphetamine and a small amount of cocaine. Samaniego was arrested for possession of methamphetamine and cocaine for sale, and transporting methamphetamine. He was booked into the Sheriff’s Main Jail.

Ventura County Sheriff's Department

(S)uspects, Address, Age
Calderon, Cecilia, Oxnard, 27

The Ventura County Sheriff’s Department has recently seen a rash of fraudulent “Sheriff’s Department” checks circulating not only in Ventura County, but outside the County as well. Local stores, markets and check cashing businesses are cashing these checks and do not discover that they are fraudulent until the bank receives them and refuses payment. Businesses are urged to contact the Ventura County Treasury Office (654-3746) during business hours if they receive a check that they feel is suspicious. After hours, businesses can contact the Sheriff’s Central Inmate Records at 654-3300.

In a recent case, Oxnard PD arrested the listed individual for possession of one of these fraudulent checks, and several other suspects have been identified. The investigation is ongoing and anyone with information regarding this crime is urged to contact Detective Christine Rettura or their local police department.

City of Fillmore

The City of Fillmore is pleased to announce the appointment of Bill Herrera as the new chief of the Fillmore Fire Department.

Mr. Herrera has been with the Fillmore Fire Department since 1999. In 2005 he was promoted to Captain and served in that capacity for three years. Since June 2008 he has served as interim chief.

The appointment is effective Thursday October 30, 2008.

Herrera said he is committed to continuing the strong traditions of the department, which responds to approximately 1,000 medical and fire emergency calls annually. “I look forward to meeting the challenges of the community, and working with the City Council, City staff, and our firefighters. I am committed to ensuring a strong future for the fire department.”

Ventura County Sheriff's Department

Although children look forward to tricks, treats, and ghoulish garb, Halloween can be very stressful for parents, with candy given to their kids by strangers and a legion of masked and costumed trick-or-treaters at the door. However, following a few safety tips can ensure safe fun for kids and candy-givers alike.

To ensure that trick-or-treaters, you, and your house stay safe, remember the following tips:

• Clear your yard and sidewalk of any obstacles or decorations that may be hard to see in the dark, lest someone go bump in the night.

• Keep your house well lighted, both inside and out; you wouldn’t want to miss any particularly good costumes, would you?

• Ask your Neighborhood Watch or local citizen’s group to haunt (patrol) your community.

• Report any suspicious or criminal activity to your police or sheriff’s department.

• To make sure even the scariest costumes are safe, keep the following in mind when buying or designing one:

1. Try makeup instead of masks; it’s more comfortable and doesn’t obstruct vision the way masks can.

2. Check to ensure that costumes are flame-retardant so that young ones are safe around jack-o’-lanterns, candles, and other flames.

3. Keep costumes short to ensure that the only trip taken is the one around the neighborhood.

4. Look for brightly colored costumes, attach reflector strips to costumes and bags, and remind trick-or-treaters to carry glow sticks and flashlights.

5. If a costume involves any sort of fake weapon, make sure that it is made of a flexible material such as cardboard or foam. Or, avoid the whole problem of weapons by challenging your child to design a costume that is scary without one.

• Older kids should trick-or-treat in groups; kids walking around alone are never as safe as those in groups, and especially not at night. Younger kids should be accompanied by a parent or trusted neighbor.

• Review the route for trick-or-treating beforehand and set a time when kids should be home. Also, have a plan if your child gets separated from his or her friends or from you.

• Remind your children not to enter strange houses or cars.

• After a successful and safe night around the neighborhood, remember that the treats still need scrutiny before anyone eats them.

• Remind your children not to eat treats until they’ve come home. To help ensure this, feed them a meal or a substantial snack before they go out.

• Check all treats at home in a well-lighted place. Be especially wary of anything that is not wrapped by the factory or that is no longer sealed.

• Take a cellular phone with you if possible.

• Wear a watch.

• Carry a flashlight.

So remember, following these few safety tips can ease stress and ensure safe fun for everyone. Happy Halloween…

Arnold Schwarzenegger
California State Governor

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger issued the following statement today regarding the death of Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriff Randy Hamson of Simi Valley:

“Maria and I join all Californians in mourning the loss of Deputy Sheriff Randy Hamson. Randy went above and beyond the call of duty and risked his own life to protect the lives of those in the community, and we will always remember his selfless dedication and sacrifice. We send our deepest condolences to Randy’s family, friends and fellow officers during this difficult time.”

Hamson, 44, died October 24 as a result of injuries sustained after being struck by a vehicle on August 16, 2004. At the time of the accident, he was a five-year veteran of the department. He is survived by his wife, three children, parents and two brothers.

In honor of Deputy Hamson, Capitol flags will be flown at half-staff.