DETAILS: 

On 2-8-09 at approximately 7:30 PM, Oxnard police officers were dispatched to Beck Park located at Kamala and “C” Street in regards to a stabbing victim. Officers made contact with the victim. The victim was transported to St John’s Regional Medical Center where he is listed in stable condition.

The victim told officers he was stabbed in the south alley of Beck Park. The suspects were described as four or five Hispanic males, 19-20 years of age.

Anyone with any information regarding the incident can contact Detective Alex Arnett at (805) 486-6297 or the Violent Crimes Hotline at (805) 982-7070. Investigators feel the motive is gang related.

An investigation is continuing.

DATE: 2-8-09

Dear Editor:

The photos below are taken from video surveillance footage showing an auto theft suspect who stole a vehicle in Oxnard on Thursday, January 8, 2009 at about 2:15 p.m.

The images show a white or Hispanic male, about 18 years of age, thin build, long curly dark hair down to below his shoulders, wearing a black baseball cap worn backward, white jacket, gray t-shirt and black ankle-length shorts.

Anyone who recognizes the suspect is asked to call Sr. Officer Ken Klopman, Downtown Beat 23 Coordinator, at (805) 385-8212. Callers can remain anonymous.

DETAILS: 

On January 25, 2009 at 8:40 p.m. officers from the Oxnard Police Department responded to a call of a shooting victim in the area of Hemlock Street and Ventura Road. Upon officers’ arrival they contacted the victim on the frontage road of Ventura Road at Date Street. The victim was suffering from at least gunshot wound. The victim was transported to St. John’s Regional Medical Center where he was rushed into surgery in serious condition.

During the investigation officers learned that the victim was walking home from the area of Channel Islands Blvd. and Ventura Road. He was confronted by two suspects. Both suspects remove handguns and discharged several rounds towards the victim. Investigators do not know the motive for the shooting.

Anyone with information about this shooting are asked to call Detective Jeff Long at (805) 486-6506 or the Violent Crimes Hotline at (805) 982-7070.

An investigation is continuing.

# # #

DATE: 1-25-2009

DETAILS: 

On 1/28/09 at approximately 1120 hours, Oxnard Police Officer Ricky Vega was patrolling the Rose Park area of Oxnard when a white vehicle caught his attention. The vehicle was driving slowly towards a group of males standing near a house in the area. The officer recognized the occupants of the vehicle as gang members of a rival gang and proceeded to make a traffic stop on the vehicle. The vehicle made a sudden evasive turn onto another street and stopped.

As Officer Vega stopped behind the vehicle, the front passenger jumped out of the vehicle and ran. Officer Vega held the driver of the vehicle at gunpoint while maintaining a view of the fleeing passenger. As the passenger ran from the vehicle, he removed a handgun from his waistband and threw it to the ground.

Back-up officers arrived and assisted with arresting the driver, Juan Rosas. A short time later the passenger, Joseph Peralta was found a few blocks away and arrested. The gun was located and taken as evidence. There is little doubt the actions of Officer Vega prevented a potential drive-by shooting.

Both suspects were booked into the Ventura County Jail. Rosas is being held on a no-bail parole violation; Peralta is facing several charges including possession of a loaded firearm and criminal activity in the furtherance of a criminal street gang. His bail is set at $100,000.

An investigation is continuing.

# # #
DATE: January 28, 2009

DETAILS: 

Oxnard police received a call of a large fight involving a knife in the 1300 block of Commercial Avenue on Sunday (January 18) night at 9:27 p.m. A total of ten Oxnard officers responded to this incident. Upon arrival, officers located a large group standing around an injured subject in the roadway with several unspent rounds of ammunition strewn about him. What officers quickly determined was that the injured party was the suspect in an assault with a deadly weapon, not the victim.

According to statements obtained by officers from parties on scene, Victim Madrigal and Suspect Mata have had an ongoing feud of some type. Tonight, Suspect Mata walked to the residence of Victim Madrigal and pulled out a small caliber handgun.

Due to either his inability to properly handle the weapon or his obviously drunken state, Suspect Mata pulled the loaded handgun from his waistband and pointed it at his intended victim, but Mata was unable to effectively deal with an apparent malfunction of the handgun and ejected several live rounds from the weapon onto the ground. Victim Madrigal quickly disarmed Mata of his handgun.

Mata then pulled out a knife but Madrigal was also able to wrestle the knife away. During the knife disarming, Madrigal sustained a superficial cut to his hand from the knife blade. After this confrontation, Mata was restrained by a crowd of nearby residents who held the suspect until the arrival of police. Police quickly recovered the loaded handgun and knife used by Mata without incident.

During his detention by bystanders, Mata suffered several contusions to his face and head. He was treated for his injuries at Ventura County Medical Center and was later booked into the Ventura County Jail on charges of assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a loaded firearm and drawing/exhibiting a firearm in a threatening manner. His bail was set at $25,000.

Victim Madrigal did not require medical treatment for his injury. An investigation is continuing.

DATE: 01/19/2009 at 0340 hours.

DETAILS: 

A ban on vending from vehicles or structures and a ban on selling vehicles or structures on Oxnard’s roadways will be enforced beginning March 1, 2009 by the Oxnard Police Department.

On January 1, 2008, California Streets and Highways Code section 731 was amended by the State legislature to allow enforcement by local law enforcement agencies. Section 731 prohibits, among other things, the selling of vehicles on any highway. Violation of this section is a misdemeanor and vehicles can be removed as a nuisance.

A vehicle or structure may be removed from any highway as a public nuisance when:

1. It is parked for the purpose of selling the vehicle or structure, or
2. The vehicle or structure is used to sell any article, service or thing.

It is a misdemeanor for any person to park any vehicle or structure within a highway for:

1. The purpose of selling that vehicle or structure, or
2. The purpose of selling any article or thing.

It is a misdemeanor for any person to:

1. Sell, display for sale or offer for sale any article or thing either in or from a vehicle or structure parked or placed within a highway, or
2. Store, service, repair or otherwise work upon any vehicle parked or placed within a highway, other than upon a vehicle which is temporarily disabled.

After a 30-day grace period, Oxnard officers will begin enforcing the provisions of this Code within the city limits. Vehicles such as ice cream trucks typically conduct curbside sales, are mobile in nature and are therefore regulated separately by the Vehicle Code.

The intent of the section is to dissuade people from using highways for the sole purpose of selling vehicles or selling articles/things from vehicles or structures.

The full text of California Streets and Highways Code section 731 is available online at the State of California Legislative Counsel Web site, http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/.

For additional information, please contact Traffic Unit Sergeant Randey Cole at (805) 385-7847.

DETAILS: 

An anonymous call to police yesterday evening resulted in the discovery of a small-scale methamphetamine manufacturing laboratory and the arrest of a 33 year-old Oxnard man.

Oxnard police received a call Sunday shortly after 6:00 p.m. about a possible meth lab in a residence in the 3000 block of Circle Drive. Officers made entry into the home and discovered the small-scale lab in one of the bedrooms of a single-family dwelling.

Officers arrested Jonathan Leonard Douglass upon his return to the residence without incident.

Officers remained on scene until this morning when investigators with the California’s Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement arrived to dismantle the lab.

Douglass was booked into the Ventura County Jail on the following charges:

• Under the influence of a controlled substance 
• Possession of narcotic paraphernalia 
• Attempted manufacture of a controlled substance

Douglass remains in custody this evening with bail set at $50,000.

DATE: 01/12/2009 at 2110 hours.

DETAILS: 

An alert caller notified Oxnard police this morning as two subjects were seen breaking into a neighboring home. Both suspects were taken into custody by Oxnard police as they attempted to flee the residence.

Oxnard police received a 9-1-1 call of a possible burglary in progress in the 3400 block of Dunkirk Drive. The caller reported seeing two subjects in the rear yard of a neighboring residence; they were then seen breaking a window to gain entry into the home. While inside, the two suspects took preliminary steps to remove a large flat-screen television from the residence.

Upon approach of responding officers, the two suspects fled the residence, jumping a rear yard wall, but were quickly taken into custody without further incident.

The vigilant neighbor prevented these suspects from removing any property from the home. Detectives are conducting an investigation to determine if the pair is involved in additional burglaries in the area.

Both suspects were booked into the Ventura County Jail. Bail was set at $50,000.

An investigation is continuing.

By: Senior Officer Alex Rangel, Beat 12 Beat Coordinator

Our department was recently contacted by officials from the country of Panama inquiring about Oxnard’s Community Oriented Policing and Problem Solving (COPPS) efforts. As many of you may know Oxnard was recently honored with the 2008 “James Q. Wilson” award from the California Department of Justice and the Office of the California Attorney General for our COPPS efforts.

A former Oxnard officer, Steve Noguera, who is currently assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Panama and is currently assigned as the Resident Agent in Charge for the DOD Force Protection Detachment, happened to be meeting with the Ambassador and other high ranking Embassy officials who were eager to help the Panama National Police (PNP) get started with their efforts in COPPS. However, Panama officials were unsure how to proceed. Steve, having been a member of the Oxnard police department when we started the C.O.P.P.S. program back in 1994 thought to look up his old department on the internet and saw our award.

This led to an invitation for OPD to come to Panama to assist them with the implementation of a COPPS program. Chief Crombach quickly approved the trip and so a few weeks later – on Sunday, October 26, 2008 I found myself in the nation of Panama.

My first stop in Panama was San Miguelito, a city with approximately 370,000 people and patrolled by 800 officers. The city of San Miguelito was to serve as the C.O.P.P.S. pilot program. It also happens to be in a red zone. A red zone is an area marked as an area that’s off limits to the U.S. military and typically these areas experience a high number of homicides, shootings, stabbings, and other part one crimes.

The city of San Miguelito is a very diverse and densely populated area. To make things more difficult the homes do not have house numbers and the streets do not have names. Further, there are many natural water drainage areas that are approximately five feet wide and run between properties. These natural drainage areas create a unique challenge for police when going in foot pursuit or when looking for suspects.

Another unique challenge in Panama is their way of dispatching officers to calls. When dispatched to a call for service the location is simply described to officers and remarkably the officers know exactly where to go. Additionally, some years ago the PNP eliminated the local police dispatch centers and created a national PNP call center. Officers are dispatched from the national dispatch center via police radio or by cell phone. Each police car has a police radio or an assigned cell phone. There are few police cars for the city and most officers find themselves walking the beat and standing on street corners. Those officers who are on footpatrol and who can afford a cell phone call the dispatch center on a “police only” phone line to give them their cell number so they can be dispatched to a call.

Another challenge facing the Panamanians in San Miguelito is policing a large city with very limited transportation resources. Again, the Panamanians have found a unique way to handle the calls for service. The shift’s lieutenant has a driver assigned to him and part of the lieutenant’s responsibilities is to take the officers to their beats and pick up those who are at the end of their shift. After talking to some of the officers they told me when they get a call and it’s a critical incident they render first aid, lock down the scene, and call for detectives. There is very little report writing on the part of the beat officer. I asked about the details in each of their reports and all agreed there needs to be improvement in this area.

As we drove around San Miguelito we had a two-man unit following us in an off road motorcycle. The officers were special trained officers with the passenger carrying a fully automatic weapon. The uniformed officers in front of us were in a marked unit (truck). The motorcycle officers were equal to military Special Forces and respond to developing intense situations requiring their services. Keep in mind Panama does not have a military; the police are their first line of defense.

After touring San Miguelito, interviewing those I needed to interview, and obtaining the necessary photographs, I had a better understanding about their city and about how the police operate. I also had a better understanding about the barriers and concerns the officers and citizens may have.

On Tuesday, October 28, 2008 I presented to a group of 26 officers from San Miguelito and other police stations in Panama. The training was held at the national training center, a location once occupied by U.S. forces. I started the presentation by answering all their questions and learning about the students and their ranks. The students consisted of lieutenants, sergeants, senior officers, and officers. In the first few seconds I learned the Panamanians speak Spanish in whole different way than I know. They speak fast, and use words I’m familiar with, however, not typically in the same context. Fortunately, I’m familiar enough with the language to understand what they were saying and was able to move right along without too much difficulty.

I found the officers who were already working as community officers were already doing much of what we do, however, not really to the extent we are. The officers were amazed that we have good relationships with the media, our administration supports our efforts, our elected officials support the program, the community / business organizations are willing to work with us, and other city departments are held accountable for our requests. They struggled somewhat with the concept of partnership.

The second day of training consisted of neighborhood watch programs, how to develop programs and keeping them motivated, how to use the youth to their advantage (Oxnard City Corps/Town Keepers), and other success stories.

What seemed to be most appreciated by the Panamanian officials was my willingness to take the time to explain the training, my role as a beat coordinator, my experience as a storefront officer, and my role as a field training officer. I was pleasantly surprised when they told me they had an active DARE program. Having been DARE trained, I used their DARE training to explain much of my material.

There is so much more to say, however, this was a snapshot of my experience. The program was well received and the end result is the Mayor of San Miguelito and officers from their police department will in the future come to Oxnard to see firsthand what we do and how we do it. This effort will be sponsored by the U.S. Embassy in Panama. Our job will be to host their training.