by Cindy Summers
Police reports are provided to us by the Ventura Police Department and are not the opinions of the Ventura Breeze. All suspects mentioned are assumed to be innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Felony Resisting a Peace Officer, Possession of a Controlled Substance Arrest
On November 4, at approximately 1am, a Ventura Police patrol officer was contacted by a witness in the 200 block of Santa Clara Street who was reporting a physical altercation to the front of the Tavern Bar. The witness identified two of the involved parties, a male and female, who were still on scene.
As the officer was attempting to contact the parties to determine their involvement in the altercation, the female suspect, 26 year old Ventura resident Natalie Carr ran from the officer. A second officer arrived on scene and detained Carr, along with the male suspect, 21 year old Ventura resident Liko McBride. Both suspects refused to cooperate with officers as they attempted to gather information.
During the investigation, officers learned the two were involved in the earlier altercation but were unable to establish a crime had been committed at that time. As the officer was informing the parties they were being released without pending criminal charges, Carr stood up and advanced towards the officer in a threatening manner. The officer took physical control of Carr in order to take her into custody and prevent her from striking him. McBride interfered at this point and physically assaulted the officer while trying to free Carr. The officer lost control of Carr as a result, but was able to take McBride to the ground as he continued to resist. Once on the ground, Carr began to strike the officer in the head and upper torso.
The second officer on scene physically detained Carr who continued to try to assault officers. Once Carr was taken into custody, additional officers arrived on scene and assisted in detaining McBride.
Prowling Arrest, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia
On November 15, at approximately 10:30am, the Ventura Police Department Command Center received a 911 call from a resident in the 300 block of S. Brent St. reporting that a subject was just seen attempting to enter a neighbor’s side gate. The caller saw the subject, later identified as the suspect 32 year old vagrant Brittany Austen, reaching over the gate and yelled at her to stop. Austen fled on foot and was last seen running westbound on Preble Ave.
Officers responding to the call saw Austen, who matched the description, and detained her several blocks away from the residence. She was positively identified and arrested.
Suicidal Subject
On the November 15, at approximately 1pm, a Ventura Police Officer was on patrol when he observed a subject, later identified as a 19-year-old male adult, standing on the outside railing of the California St. overcrossing of Highway 101. The subject was standing on the catwalk of a freeway sign, which was approximately 20 feet above the roadway and vehicles traveling in the southbound lanes of the highway.
The officer immediately made verbal contact with the subject and began attempts to negotiate with him, while additional officers closed California St., and the California Highway Patrol closed both the northbound and southbound lanes of Highway 101. The Ventura City Fire Department was also called to the scene and remained on scene for the duration of the incident.
At first the subject was uncooperative although the officer, who is trained in crisis intervention, continued attempts to negotiate with the subject for approximately 1.5 hours. The officer was finally able to convince the subject to climb back over the railing onto California St. Once he was safely away from the ledge, officers detained the subject.
Narcotic/Opiate Related Arrests
On November 15, Detectives with the Ventura Police Department Street Crimes Unit conducted two separate investigations involving the sales and unlawful use of opiate based controlled substances.
On November 15 at 8:30am, Street Crimes Detectives made contact with an unknown suspect who was offering to sell an opiate based controlled substance over an online website. Detectives negotiated a price and set a meet location in the Ventura Gateway Center parking lot.
Detectives were waiting at the meet location for a short period of time when two female suspects arrived on foot. Detectives watched as one of the suspects answered calls from an undercover detective.
Uniformed detectives then moved in and detained 30 year old Ventura resident Thea Goldstein and 24 year old Ventura resident Taylor Carr. Both were found to be in possession of Suboxone, an opiate based narcotic.
Later in the day, at 2:45pm, Street Crimes Unit Detectives served a search warrant at a residence in the 9300 block of Neath St reference the suspect, 28 year old Ventura resident Christian Shatswell, using forged prescriptions to unlawfully obtain oxycodone and hydrocodone, both an opiate based narcotic, from several local pharmacies.
Shatswell was detained during the search warrant and later arrested for the felony crimes of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud, using a forged prescription, and commercial burglary.
