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.

Stolen Vehicle Arrest

On August 30, at 11:40am, a Ventura Police patrol officer observed a suspicious vehicle near the intersection of Mills Road and Main Street.   The officer conducted a registration check on the vehicle and learned it had recently been stolen from the city of Oxnard.

The officer attempted an enforcement stop on the suspect, later identified as 26 year old Ventura vagrant Bruno Vasquez, who failed to yield.  Vasquez accelerated away at high rate of speed while passing vehicles in the opposing traffic lanes.  The officer chose to not pursue Vasquez due to his erratic driving and the hazard it posed to public safety.  Vasquez was last seen by the officer traveling west on Main Street.

Several minutes later, a second officer observed Vasquez near the intersection of Main Street and Hurst Avenue.  Vasquez attempted to elude this officer by abruptly turning onto Hurst Avenue, where he lost control of his vehicle and collided into a utility pole.  Vasquez jumped from the vehicle and fled on foot into a residential area.   Officers quickly established a perimeter and requested a Ventura Police K9 to assist in searching for Vazquez.

Vasquez was located hiding in a nearby yard and was taken into custody without incident.  He was later booked into the Ventura County Jail for being in possession of a stolen vehicle, reckless driving and resisting arrest.  No one was injured as a result of this incident.

 Trespassing and Felony Resisting Arrest

On August 31, at 11:20am, the Ventura Police Department Command Center received a call from the victim who is the property manager at 333 N. Kalorama Dr. He advised dispatch that a subject was following him around, looking into cars and acting suspiciously. Two Officers arrived and contacted the suspicious subject who was later identified as 40 year old Kern County resident Andrew Hodges.

Officers were investigating trespassing and speaking with Hodges who was lying about his name and why he was on the property. Officers detained and placed the 6’5” 240 pounds Hodges in handcuffs for their safety.  Officers began to walk Hodges to a patrol car to further investigate when Hodges began to fight with Officers.

Hodges kicked, hit and pushed at the 2 Officers and all three fell to the ground. The Officer’s summoned emergency help on the radio and more Officers arrived in order to gain control of Hodges.

AMR and Ventura City Fire treated Hodges at the scene and Hodges was later transported to CMH for a medical clearance. Hodges had minor injuries from resisting arrest. No Officers were injured during this incident.

Officers were finally able to identify Hodges by his tattoos and learned he was on felony probation out of Kern County for assault with a deadly weapon.

Felony Warrant Arrest and Resisting Arrest  

On September 4, at 11:35am, officers with the Ventura Police Department’s Patrol Task Force received information that a wanted subject was possibly in a vagrant camp in the Santa Clara River near the corner of Harbor Blvd. and Olivas Park Dr.  It was also reported the wanted subject was armed with a firearm.  Additional officers, along with a Ventura Police K-9, responded and started a search of the river bottom area.

During the search, officers saw a subject matching the description of the wanted subject walking with a pit-bull and attempted to contact him.  The subject, later identified as 44 year old vagrant James Dalton, fled further into the river bottom.  Officers lost sight of Dalton, but continued the search and soon found a large vagrant camp.  This was an elaborate “trench” type encampment in heavy growth which was several feet long and covered to conceal it from view from above ground.  As officers approached the camp, a large pit-bull ran from inside the trench and aggressively charged towards the officers.  Fearing they were going to be attacked, two officers discharged their firearms and shot the pit-bull, which immediately retreated back into the trench.

After several minutes, officers could hear Dalton from inside the trench.  Dalton was directed by officers out of the trench and taken into custody without further incident.  He was later transported to the Ventura County Jail and booked for a felony violation of parole warrant and resisting arrest. Ventura County Animal Services responded to the scene and took custody of the pit-bull, which sustained non-life threatening injuries to its leg.

Possession of a Firearm With Arrest & Search Warrant Service

On September 6, at 7:10am, the Ventura Police Department Command Center received a 911 call of possible gunshots heard in the 6400 Block of Whippoorwill St. Responding officers attempted to locate a victim and parties involved.

One of the responding officers located a subject matching the description given by the reporting party. Shortly after the officer detained the subject, the subject fled on foot and discarded a handgun. The officer gave chase and suffered a minor injury in the foot pursuit.

Another officer detained the suspect who was identified as 24 year old Ventura resident Ernesto Orozco. Orozco had an outstanding warrant for his arrest and was found in possession of ammunition linking him to the discarded firearm. Orozco was also found in possession of narcotics and paraphernalia.

Orozco was booked into the Ventura County jail for his outstanding warrant, possession of a firearm, carrying a concealed firearm, resisting an officer causing injury, possession of narcotics, and narcotics paraphernalia.

On the same date at 5:00pm, Ventura PD detectives and Ventura PD SWAT served a search warrant in the 2500 Block of Katherine St related to this investigation. Additional evidence was located and collected during the search warrant service.

The investigation into the original 911 call is ongoing and at this time, a victim has not been located. The injured officer is expected to return to full duty shortly.  Anyone with information related to this incident is urged to call the Ventura PD Major Crimes unit at 339-4488.

Possession of a Loaded Handgun, Methamphetamine and Narcotics Paraphernalia Arrest

On September 7, at approximately 5:00pm, patrol officers responded to the area of Victoria Avenue and Ralston Street regarding a possible fight in the roadway near the intersection.  When the officers arrived, they were able to contact one of the involved persons.  The investigation revealed the other party had fled prior to officers arriving and he was possibly in possession of a handgun.  As additional patrol officers arrived in the area, they located the second person, 32 year old Ventura resident Rene Garcia, on the bike path west of Victoria Avenue.  As the officers attempted to detain him, he dropped a small handheld, canvas bag.  After the officers were able to detain him, officers found a loaded handgun in the canvas bag, methamphetamine and narcotics paraphernalia.

At the conclusion of the investigation, Garcia was booked into Ventura County Jail for possession of a loaded handgun, methamphetamine and narcotics paraphernalia.

Child Annoyance Investigation                                                                                             

On February 26 the victim reported to a School Resource Officer that Stephen Magoon, the victim’s tutor, had inappropriate interactions with him. The victim described the interactions as being sexual in nature.

Ventura Police Detectives began a follow up investigation and gathered additional evidence of the crimes. Ventura Police Detectives presented the case to the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office and on August 31, the District Attorney’s Office filed misdemeanor charges against Magoon for 647.6(a)(1) PC / Annoying or Molesting a Child.

Ventura PD Detectives believe that Magoon may have had other close relationships with underage males and are seeking to identify other potential victims. Magoon is a former teacher in the Ventura Unified School District who provides private tutoring services to students. Anyone who believes they have been victimized by Stephen Wayne Magoon should contact Det. McCain of the Ventura Police Department at 339-4478.

Child Endangerment and Violently Resisting Officers Arrest

On September 9, at 12:36pm  patrol officers responded to a call for service to check on the well-being call of a tenant at the Bayshore Inn, 3075 E. Main Street.  When the officers arrived, they contacted the suspect, Allison Silva, 29 years of Ventura in a room and attempted to check on her and her infant child.  She immediately grabbed the child and ran from officers.  As the officers pursued after her, she ran towards the back of the hotel unit and attempted to jump out of the second story window with the child.  Officers were able to grab her before she got out of the window, and they were able to free the child from her as well.  The suspect became very combative with officers, kicking and hitting them several times during the struggle over the child and after the child was removed from her.  The suspect was ultimately taken into custody by the officers.

At the conclusion of the investigation, the suspect was arrested and booked into Ventura County Jail for child endangerment and violently resisting officers.  No one was injured during this incident.