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.
Narcotics Operation and Arrests
On January 2, from 9:00am – 2:00pm, Ventura Police Department SCU Narcotics and PTF units conducted an operation in the downtown area of Ventura. The operation’s primary objective was to combat narcotics sales in the downtown area parks.
Detectives and PTF Officers monitored the parks for several hours, using various surveillance tools. As a result, three subjects were arrested for narcotics-related offenses.
Karl Muniz, 56 year old Ventura resident, was arrested and cited and released for possession of narcotics.
Jack Crosby, 36 year old Ventura resident, was arrested and cited and released for possession of narcotics.
Lydia Corona, 51 year old Ventura resident, was arrested and booked into Ventura County Jail for possession of Methamphetamine for sale.
A search of the Ventura County Superior Court shows that Karl Muniz and Lydia Corona all have numerous prior arrests and convictions for drug-related crimes. Karl Muniz has numerous arrests for property related crimes.
Commercial Burglary and Vandalism Arrest
On December 25 at 2am, the owner of Gracies’ Deals discovered the store had been broken into, items had been stolen and the store had been vandalized. The owner contacted the Ventura Police Department.
Ventura Police Street Crimes Detectives began investigating and using surveillance video were able to tentatively identify 25 year old Moroni Peters as the subject who had entered the store. Peters was in custody at the Ventura County Jail on an unrelated auto theft case out of Oxnard. On January 6, Detectives spoke to Peters, who admitted to entering the store, stealing merchandise, starting a warming fire, and spray-painting the walls. Detectives arrested Peters for commercial burglary and vandalism.
According to Peters, he came here from Orange County and is currently homeless. A review of the Ventura County Superior Court website shows that Peters has prior convictions for prowling, petty theft, possession of a concealed knife, possession of drug paraphernalia, and previous arrests for possession of a stolen vehicle and narcotics-related offenses.
Vehicle Pursuit with Arrest
On January 7, detectives with the Ventura County PROS unit were patrolling the area of the 2100 Block of East Thompson Blvd looking for wanted PROS offenders. The PROS unit is responsible for monitoring known offenders on county probation. The detectives observed a vehicle in the parking lot of a motel, and a check of the license plate revealed the car was recently reported stolen. The driver of the vehicle, 27 year old Christopher Mejia, then drove out of the motel parking lot.
Detectives followed and attempted to stop the vehicle; however, Mejia fled and began driving erratically. Detectives followed and initiated a pursuit. Mejia drove at high rates of speed and attempted to lose the detectives by driving through alleyways. While trying to escape, Mejia pulled into a parking lot and was trapped. Additional patrol units, Street Crimes Detectives, and a K-9 Unit assisted in taking Mejia into custody without any further danger to the public.
Mejia was arrested for Felony Evading, Possession of a Stolen Vehicle, and Addict Driving a Vehicle. No one was injured during the pursuit.
A review of the Ventura County Superior Court website shows that Mejia has prior convictions for providing false information to a police officer and a narcotics-related offense.
