OXNARD POLICE DEPARTMENT

NEWS RELEASE

DETAILS:On September 14, 2016 about 10:37 a.m., North District Oxnard Police Officers who are assigned to The Neighborhood Policing Team (NPT), were conducting a directed patrol in the East Village neighborhood. The officers were in the neighborhood because of recent burglary incidents and conducting extra patrols in the area to try and locate or identify persons that may not belong in the neighborhood or who were behaving suspiciously. They observed two persons riding bicycles in the neighborhood that had committed a traffic violation and wanted to speak with them.

 
Officers attempted to contact 25 year-old Oxnard resident Frank Valentine and his female companion. The officers pulled up alongside asked them to stop their bikes because they wanted to talk to them. The female cooperated and stopped immediately but Valentine immediately sped away on the bicycle and started to evade the police officers. The officers were able to drive ahead of him in their police unit and tried to block his path to make contact with him. They ordered him to stop but intentionally drove his bicycle into the door of one of the police officers as they attempted to exit the vehicle to speak to him. The suspect abandoned his bicycle and started to run away in the 900 block of Lucero Street. The second officer in the police unit attempted to physically detain Valentine and he ran into the officer and violently pushed the officer away from him which resulted in a foot chase northbound on Lucero Street. When Valentine ran away officers discovered a fixed blade knife had fallen on the ground, presumably it fell out of Valentine’s pocket as he was running.
 
The police officers pursued Valentine on foot and he ran into a backyard in the 1100 block of Lucero Street and disappeared. The officers quickly established a perimeter around that house and it was determined through records checks that Frank Valentine had prior contacts at this home and had an active felony arrest warrant. Valentine matched the description of the man that had assaulted one of our police officers and had run into the backyard. The officers conducted a records check and we’re able to get a photograph of Valentine and he was positively identified as the person who was riding the bicycle, assaulted one of the police officers, had possessed a concealed fixed blade knife and had actively resisted.
 
Numerous Oxnard Police Officers arrived in the East Village neighborhood and established a perimeter around this house. It was determined that the suspect had a prior arrest for a firearms violation so members of the Oxnard Police Department’s Special Enforcement Unit (SEU) and Police K-9 Unit were summoned to the scene to assist with the apprehension of the suspect. Telephone contact was made with uninvolved residents inside the house and they voluntarily evacuated the house. One of the residents told the police that Valentine had run inside the house and was hiding in a bedroom on the second floor of the home.
 
Numerous announcements were made to Valentine ordering him to surrender and come downstairs and submit to arrest. The suspect refused to cooperate with the police instructions and continued to conceal himself in the home.
 
Members of the SEU eventually entered the residence and searched the ground floor of the home. After securing the ground floor of the home they continued making verbal announcements ordering the suspect to comply and surrender. Telephone contact was eventually made with Valentine and one of his family members convinced him to surrender. Valentine told officers that he was ready to surrender and he eventually came down and was taken into custody without further incident.
 
Frank Valentine is a PROS offender and was on supervised release as a result of an illegal firearm possession conviction. He had an active felony arrest warrant for violating his probation. Valentine was taken to a local medical facility for a booking medical clearance because an electronic control device was used during the initial foot pursuit. After being examined by a doctor he was booked into the Ventura County Jail for the arrest warrant and the fresh felony charge of assaulting a police officer, felony possession of a dirk or dagger, misdemeanor vandalism and felony resisting arrest. One police officer was injured during the initial confrontation with Valentine and was taken to a local hospital for a precautionary examination. The officer was later released and is expected to have a full recovery.
 
The Post Release Offender program was created by Assembly Bill 109 – the 2011 Public Safety Realignment. This program mandates that individuals sentenced to non-violent, non-serious or non-sex offenses will serve their sentences in county jails instead of state prison.  The public should be aware that release under AB 109 is based on the offender’s most recent commitment offense, prior convictions are not considered.
 
The Oxnard Police Department Neighborhood Policing Team focuses on crime and quality of life issues at the neighborhood level with a focus on Community Policing and Problem Solving. The Oxnard Police Department will continue to monitor this area and work closely with the East Village community and neighborhood council.

The Oxnard Police Department continues to encourage residents to be partners in public safety as part of the Operation Safer and Stronger initiative. Anyone with information regarding criminal activity is encouraged to contact the Oxnard Police Department at (805) 385-7600 or Ventura County Crime Stoppers at (805) 222-8477 and www.venturacountycrimestoppers.org/contactus.
 
 
DATE / TIME PREPARED:  9/15/16, 0630 hours