Jeri Williams Chief of Police

Oxnard Police Department R. Jason Benites Assistant Chief Scott Whitney Assistant Chief

OXNARD POLICE DEPARTMENT

NEWS RELEASE

DETAILS:
On Tuesday, February 24, 2015, at 5:45 AM, officers from the Oxnard Police Department, personnel from the Oxnard Fire Department, and EMS personnel responded to the intersection of Fifth Street and Rice Avenue regarding a traffic collision involving a train and a vehicle.      
 
When emergency responders arrived, they found a truck that was fully engulfed by flames in the field area east of Rice Avenue, adjacent to the railroad tracks immediately north of Fifth Street. A debris field existed from the railroad track area west of Rice Avenue, to the area east of Rice Avenue.
 
Oxnard Fire Department personnel were able to determine that the vehicle did not have any occupants inside of it. 
 
A derailed Metrolink commuter train was also in the area east of Rice Avenue, adjacent to the railroad tracks.  Three of the passenger cars had been turned onto their sides.
 
Emergency responders treated several injured train passengers at the scene and transported twenty-eight of them to local hospitals.  Twenty-three passengers were not injured and released from the scene. 
 
Preliminary investigation determined that the eastbound Metrolink commuter train, consisting of a locomotive pushing four passenger cars, collided with a utility truck and trailer that had been on the tracks near the intersection.  The impact between the train and the truck caused all train cars and the locomotive to derail.  The truck’s trailer that came to rest on the north side of the intersection caught fire and remained engulfed in flames until extinguished by firefighters.  The truck had become dislodged from the trailer and came to rest east of the intersection.     
 
Valentin Carbajal, who had been traveling northbound on Rice Avenue in a Toyota Camry, stopped in the intersection just as the collision occurred.  Numerous pieces of debris struck his vehicle resulting in his driver’s window being shattered.  Carbajal was uninjured.            
 
Preliminary investigation at the scene indicated that the Ford truck, driven by Jose Alejandro Sanchez-Ramirez, was traveling southbound on Rice Avenue, and made a right turn onto the railroad tracks that run parallel to Fifth Street and cross the traffic lanes of Rice Avenue north of the intersection.  Sanchez-Ramirez drove the truck for several yards on the tracks before it became stuck.  He walked away from the truck as the train approached it.  The train collided with the truck and trailer causing it to be pushed southbound along the tracks towards the intersection.  Debris from the impact was thrown several hundred feet along the tracks and across the intersection. 
 
Driver Sanchez-Ramirez left the scene of the collision and after walking southbound on Rice Avenue for over a mile and a half before he was spotted and contacted by an Oxnard Police Officer.  The officer determined Sanchez-Ramirez’ involvement in the collision and he was transported to the Ventura County Medical Center for precautionary measures. 
 
As a result of information developed during the course of the investigation, Sanchez-Ramirez (pictured at right) was arrested for a violation of section 20001 of the California Vehicle Code.  This felony section prohibits an involved party from leaving the scene of an injury-related collision.  This section is commonly referred to “hit and run, with injury.”  He was booked into the Ventura County Jail, where his bail is set at $150,000.     
 
The collision is still under investigation by several allied agencies.  It is anticipated that the investigation will have an impact upon traffic conditions in the immediate area, and may take another twenty-four or more hours to clear. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is conducting a separate investigation.
 
If anyone has information about this collision, please contact Senior Officer Maria Peña at 805-385-7750 or via email at [email protected].

DATE / TIME PREPARED:  February 24, 2015 at 2230 hours
 

Jeri Williams Chief of Police

Oxnard Police Department R. Jason Benites Assistant Chief Scott Whitney Assistant Chief

OXNARD POLICE DEPARTMENT

NEWS RELEASE

DETAILS:
On Sunday, April 26, 2015, between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 11:30 p.m., officers from the Oxnard Police Department conducted two DUI/Driver’s license checkpoints in the City of Oxnard.  The first checkpoint was conducted in the westbound lanes of Pleasant Valley Road west of Terrace Avenue.  The second checkpoint was conducted in the northbound lanes of Saviers Road north of Bard Road. These locations were chosen to provide increased DUI deterrence and in response to recent alcohol related arrests and/or DUI collisions. 
 
The checkpoints resulted in the following:
 
·         855 vehicles through
·         529 drivers screened
·         Two DUI investigations
·         One DUI alcohol arrest
·         One criminal arrest (an individual arrested for an outstanding warrant)
·         19 citations issued to unlicensed drivers
·         Four citations issued to drivers with a suspended/revoked license
·         33 total citations issued
·         Six vehicles towed
The one DUI arrest tonight occurred at the checkpoint on Pleasant Valley Road.  The arrested driver, a 49 year old male, had driven his vehicle over the raised concrete center median in an attempt to avoid the checkpoint.  This driver had a commercial driver’s license and during the investigation, he was found to have a blood alcohol level of twice the legal limit.
 
The Oxnard Police Department will continue to conduct DUI enforcement operations this year.  These operations are an effort to reduce the number of alcohol related crashes and to make our roadways and community safer.  We also remind people that if they see an impaired driver to dial 911.  These DUI enforcement operations are funded by grants from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) and through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
 
For any questions related to DUI and traffic enforcement, please contact Senior Officer Jamie Brown at (805) 385-7749 or via e-mail at [email protected].  
 
DATE / TIME PREPARED:  04/27/15, 0015 hours