DETAILS: 

On 10/4/08 at approximately 0315 hours, the victims were attending a party at the Vagabond Motel. They were approached by two subjects who demanded their money and jewelry. When one of the victims refused to hand over his jewelry he was struck in the head with a beer bottle. The other victim was struck several times with a baseball bat.

Both suspects fled with an undisclosed amount of money and are still outstanding.

Anyone with information regarding this incident can contact detective Paul Knapp at (805) 385-7796 or leave a message on the Violent Crimes Hotline at (805) 982-7070.

An investigation is continuing.

The Oxnard Police Department Graffiti Investigations Unit has been hard at work. Senior Officer Sandra Kujawa and Officer Mike Thomas made several recent arrests of major graffiti vandals, helping reduce the frequency of graffiti vandalism in Oxnard. For example, in February 2008 a graffiti vandal was arrested and charged with 79 counts of graffiti vandalism. Another arrest by the Graffiti Investigations Unit included an adult who was arrested for 90 misdemeanor and 90 felony counts of vandalism. Yet another adult vandal arrested for 95 counts of graffiti vandalism. Since January of this year some eighty civil citations, with fines of up to $1,000.00 were issued to graffiti offenders, who will be held accountable for the damage that they do to the community. With these significant arrests, civil citations and with the help of the public, the Graffiti Investigations Unit is working to eradicate graffiti vandalism in Oxnard.

The City of Oxnard, the Oxnard Police Department, and the Community have made it a priority to eradicate graffiti. Graffiti can be reported on the Oxnard Graffiti Hotline at 385-8010, or at the Oxnard Police Department at 385-7743.

The Oxnard Police Department would like to thank the community for their continued assistance in addressing this problem.

DETAILS: 

Oxnard police are investigating a hit-and-run collision resulting in the injury of two Pacifica High School students this morning.

At 0730 hours, Oxnard police and fire received a call of a pedestrian hit-and-run collision near Ramona School at 804 Cooper Road.

Preliminary information from the scene indicates the two teenage students were walking in the marked crosswalk at Bonita Ave. and Cooper Rd. when they were hit by the suspect vehicle. The driver fled the scene northbound on Bonita St.

Both pedestrians were transported to St. John’s Regional Medical Center for treatment of minor injuries; one by private vehicle and one by ambulance.

The driver is wanted for felony hit-and-run. Any witnesses to the crash are encourage to report their observations anonymously to Crime Stoppers at (805) 385-TALK.

An investigation is continuing. (Names of the injured pedestrians are not being released because notification of next of kin has yet to be confirmed.)

The Oxnard Police Department will be premiering its new TV show Straight to You on Monday, March 31 at 8:30 pm on Time Warner Cable Channel 36.

The show will air once per day through most of Ventura County- the air times are Monday through Wednesday at 8:30 pm and Thursday through Sunday at 4:00 pm.

The program runs 30 minutes and features various segments highlighting the Oxnard Police Department, crime prevention tips, and other important police related news.

The program is sponsored by Wal-Mart and features David Keith, OPD Spokesperson, as its host.

Previously, David hosted over 1,200 episodes of the StreetBeat TV show for OPD which ran from 1985-2006.

Police Records Technician Michael Lorenzana was recognized by the Oxnard City Council as the City’s Employee of the Quarter at their September 23, 2008 meeting. The award is for the third quarter of 2008. Consideration for this award requires a nomination and then a careful review is conducted by the City’s Employee Recognition Committee.

Michael is currently assigned to the Records Bureau as a Records Technician II. He is a trainer and works primarily with a State database system that is accessed by patrol officers and investigators. Michael also helps out in the IT department and is responsible for the connectivity of the mobile data computers in the patrol cars.

Michael was nominated by his current supervisor, Margaret Tobin. In her nomination, she recognized Michael because he truly represents what the City of Oxnard stands for, the City that cares. The work he does for others to help them do their job, is what is most important to him. Michael is always willing to stop what he is doing to help others. Many employees within the department seek out Michael as a resource because of his willingness to help.

Michael has always been an employee who is compassionate and understanding of the customer needs and he works diligently to ensure that their needs have been met. He is approachable and polite in all of his interactions. Michael takes pride in the quality of service he provides, which reflects positively on the department.

Michael very modestly accepted the award and said that he takes pride in the work that he does. He said he is proud to work for this City and tries to be a positive representative of the department.

Earlier in the year, Michael received the Civilian of the Year award for 2008 at the Oxnard Police Department’s annual awards luncheon.

Congratulations, Michael!

Financial assets forfeited by convicted criminals are converted into funds that provide law enforcement with new tools that make investigators’ work more efficient and effective. Because of the availability of asset forfeiture funds, the Oxnard Police Department operates two new Video Forensics Labs for importing and enhancing video and still images from a variety of sources. Once the digital evidence is imported and enhanced by this powerful tool, it is used in investigations that create a safer environment for the citizens of Oxnard.

The Video Forensics Labs are built around two powerful Macintosh computers running multiple operating systems simultaneously, including Apple’s OS X as well as Windows 98, XP and Vista. This design allows officers to quickly import digital video from a wide range of personal and business surveillance cameras without the need for a room full of computers. Analog-to-digital media converters allow older VHS, Betamax, Hi-8 and other formats to be viewed and perfected on the Macs and printed on archival-quality paper or exported back to tape, CD, DVD or other storage media.

The systems are easily upgraded and expanded to include other operating systems, video software and additional methods of importing evidence and exporting material that helps to solve the case. The Oxnard Police Department has made progress working with businesses and residents for years, assisting them with their video evidence. With these new labs, the tools for keeping Oxnard safe continue to improve.

When comparing the first six months of this year’s reported crime in Oxnard to 2007 figures for the same time frame, the number of reportable crimes in Oxnard declined 2.2%.

The reported crime figures reflect Part One Crimes, which are offense types that law enforcement agencies report to the United States Department of Justice. These offenses include the violent crimes of homicide, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. Property crimes that fall into Part One offenses include burglary, automobile theft, larceny (theft), and arson.

During the first six months of the 2007 calendar year, there were 2,517 reported Part I crimes, compared to 2,462 this year. The chart below summarizes Oxnard’s the comparisons by category:

The largest reduction within violent crimes was in reported rapes, which are down by 70%. Another noteworthy reduction concerns a 19.6% reduction in robberies. Though mid-year homicide figures show a 20% reduction in homicides, recent events will have a significant impact on this, since six murders occurred after July 1st.

Overall crimes against property are showing a 1.4% rise for the fist half of this year, with 2,087 crimes reported; compared to 2,059 in 2007. However, this is due only to a 3.4% rise in larcenies – all other property crime categories are showing decreases.