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.
Sexual Assault Investigation with Arrest
On March 6, 2015, Ventura Police Dispatch received a report of sexual assault. Patrol officers contacted the female victim, who advised she was sexually assaulted while receiving a tattoo at High Class Tattoo at 51 S. Victoria Ave. The victim identified the suspect as a tattoo artist, 51 year old Camarillo Resident Jaime Garza.
Ventura Police Detectives conducted a lengthy investigation and gathered additional evidence. On 5/17/16, a felony warrant was issued for the arrest of Garza for multiple charges relating to the sexual assault.
On May 25, 2016, Garza was arrested without incident outside his residence in the 1600 Block of Pierside Ln, in Camarillo. Garza was subsequently booked at the Ventura County Jail.
The investigation into this crime is ongoing and the Ventura Police Department is seeking to identify other potential victims in this case. Anyone who believes they have been victimized by Jaime Garza should contact Det. Hibdon of the Ventura Police Department at (805) 339-4443.
Grand Theft Investigation and Arrest
In May 2016 the Ventura Police Department Street Crimes Unit began an investigation into reports that two victims’ diamonds had been switched for fake stones by the suspect at his jewelry store.
The suspect, identified as 54 year old West Hills resident Ara Ghazarian, is the owner operator of Jewelry Unlimited in 4700 block of Telephone Rd in Ventura.
One victim noticed something was wrong with her wedding ring after she had a new setting made by Ghazarian. The victim had this ring inspected at a different jewelry store and discovered that the original diamond from her wedding had been replaced with a “Moissanite” stone which is a manufactured diamond replica.
The second victim took a family heirloom ring with a unique style of diamond into Ghazarian’s business to have minor repair performed. She also discovered that the diamond from her ring had been switched out with a Moissanite stone. The fake stone had been altered to resemble the style and shape of the original diamond.
Based on Ghazarian’s actions and additional evidence discovered during this investigation detectives determined that he intentionally switched the victims’ real diamonds with fake stones with an estimated total loss of over $8,000.00.
On June 16, 2016 Ventura Police Department Street Crimes detectives served a search warrant at Ghazarian’s business and took him into custody on two counts of Grand Theft.
He was later transported to the Ventura County Main Jail and booked on the listed charges.
This investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information related to this crime is urged to call the Ventura Police Department Street Crimes Unit at 339-4325, or make an anonymous call to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477. If your information leads to an arrest, you could receive a cash reward of up to $1,000.
Homicide with Arrest
On June 12, at approximately 9:30pm, the Ventura Police Department Command Center received a call in reference to a fight in the alleyway in the 300 block of San Clemente Avenue. Ventura Police Patrol Officers responded to the area and upon arrival were directed to a residence adjacent to the alley. As officers approached the residence they encountered 75 year old Ventura resident Gavin Hobbs exiting the location. Hobbs was detained and Officers entered the residence to check for other occupants. Upon entering the residence, Officers located the victim suffering from an injury to his head which resulted from being struck with a hammer.
The victim was transported to Ventura County Medical Center and was pronounced dead upon arrival. Ventura Police Major Crimes Detectives responded to the scene and took over the investigation.
Hobbs was arrested and booked at Ventura County Jail for 187 PC, Homicide.
Shooting Update with Arrest
On May 24, at approximately 10:30pm, the Ventura Police Department Command Center received a call from the victims reporting a shooting that had occurred in the area of Oyster St and Seaview Ave in the city of Ventura.
The victims had a brief encounter with the male and female suspects at the McDonald’s restaurant located at 2137 E. Harbor Blvd in Ventura. The Victims left the restaurant parking lot in their vehicle and noticed the suspects, in a white ford F150, were following them. The Victims attempted to lose the suspects in the area of Oyster St and Seaview Ave. When the suspect vehicle passed by theirs, a single gunshot was fired, striking the door of the victim vehicle. No one inside of the vehicle was injured. The victims then fled the area and contacted Police to report the incident.
Ventura Detectives conducted follow-up and identified 23 year old Ventura resident Juan Ortiz as the suspect who fired a gunshot at the victim’s vehicle. On the morning of June 8, detectives executed multiple search warrants on the west end of Ventura and subsequently located Ortiz in the area of Barry Dr. and Ventura Ave. and took him into custody without incident. Ortiz was booked at the Ventura County Jail for multiple felonies including shooting from within a vehicle, assault with a firearm, and shooting into an occupied vehicle. The female suspect has not yet been identified.
Strong Armed Robbery, Possession of Stolen Property, Conspiracy arrests
On June 3, at approximately 4:15pm, the Ventura Police Department Command Center received a report of a strong armed robbery that had just occurred in the 900 block of S Wells Rd. The victim, Edgar Aguilar, an employee of a medical marijuana delivery service in Paso Robles was in Ventura making a delivery to a medical marijuana patient.
However when Aguilar met with the patient on Wells Rd the patient and two other male suspects entered his vehicle, physically assaulted him, and demanded his property and all the marijuana that he was transporting.
The suspects then fled in a small dark colored vehicle. A VPD detective who had monitored this call over the radio believed that it might be related to a similar crime that occurred in May involving another medical marijuana delivery person who was robbed of cash and marijuana at gun point.
Detectives had been developing leads in that case and directed patrol officer to the area of Providence Ave and Jamestown St where they located the suspect vehicle driving away occupied by several males matching the suspect descriptions provided by the victim, who were identified as 18 year old Oxnard resident Deondre Vines, 19 year old Oxnard resident Treyvon Williams, 18 year old Oxnard resident Malikk Williams, 19 year old Moorpark resident Nicholas Jones.
Officers attempted to make an enforcement stop on this vehicle however it attempted to evade officers briefly until it was stopped in the 700 block of Springfield Ave.
The vehicles occupants were detained and the victim’s stolen property was located inside.
Assault with a Deadly Weapon Investigation with Arrest
On June 4, at 9:45pm, officers responded to a call for service regarding an assault with a deadly weapon. When the officers arrived, they found the victim suffering from a large laceration on her head. The suspect had already fled the scene. Ventura City Fire and AMR treated the victim at the scene and transported her to Ventura County Medical Center for further medical treatment. The investigation into the incident revealed the suspect had been involved in an argument with the victim. At some point during the argument, the suspect picked up a metal bicycle tire pump and began striking the victim in the head with it.
Officers were able to identify the suspect as 48 year old Ventura vagrant Linda Brown. Officers conducted a lengthy search of the area but did not initially locate the suspect. On 6/5/16, during the morning hours, officers did finally locate the suspect. She was arrested and transported to Ventura County Jail where she was book on the charge of assault with a deadly weapon.
Felony Vandalism Arrest
On June 5, at 11:20pm, the Ventura Police Department Command Center received a report of a vagrant destroying property in the Barnes and Noble parking lot on Telephone Rd.
Patrol officers responded and arrived on scene to find the suspect, identified as 51 year old Ventura vagrant Honor Masin, yelling and hitting the windows of nearby businesses.
Masin was detained and the officers investigation determined that she had pulled out numerous plants from a large planter and strewn them about the sidewalk area in front of the Barnes and Noble store.
The property management company was contacted and estimated the damage as well over $600.00 to replace the destroyed plants.
Masin was arrested and booked into the Ventura County Main Jail on the charge of felony vandalism.
Felon in Possession of Firearm Arrest
On June 9, at 9am, Ventura Police Department Street Crimes Unit Detectives observed a suspicious vehicle traveling in the 3500 block of Telegraph Rd. The detectives initiated a traffic stop on this vehicle for an equipment violation and contacted the driver who was identified as 46 year old Ojai resident Shane Young.
As the detectives spoke with Young they observed that he was displaying symptoms of being under the influence of a controlled substance. The detectives questioned Young about this and subsequently took him into custody for being under the influence of an illegal stimulant drug.
Young was also found to be in possession of a small amount of suspected heroin. Detectives conducted a search of his vehicle and, located a handgun in the cargo area. This handgun was found to have been reported stolen in a vehicle burglary that had occurred the previous week.
Young, who is a convicted felon, was later transported to the Ventura County Main Jail and booked on the following charges:
Felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, under the Influence of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance, and possession of stolen property.
His vehicle was towed from the scene of the traffic stop.
This investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information related to this crime is urged to call the Ventura Police Department Street Crimes Unit at 339-4325, or make an anonymous call to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477. If your information leads to an arrest, you could receive a cash reward of up to $1,000.
Assault with a Deadly Weapon Arrest
On June 9, at approximately 10:30am, officers responded to a call of an injured subject in front of a business in the 1000 block of N. Ventura Ave. Officers learned the victim was riding his bicycle on Ventura Ave. when the suspect, later identified as 47 year old Ventura resident Yurii Seals, confronted him and knocked him off the bike. While the victim was on the ground, Seals began punching and kicking him in the head. Seals fled the area after the attack. The victim was treated at the scene by Ventura City Fire personnel and released.
The reason for the attack was unknown, but the victim did know Seals prior to the altercation. A warrant was issued for Seals.
On June 10, at approximately 1:15pm, detectives received information that Seals was possibly seen in the area of the 100 block of E. Vince St. He was observed leaving in a vehicle, which was stopped by patrol units. Seals was taken into custody without incident. He was later booked into the Ventura County Jail for assault with a deadly weapon.
Vehicle Pursuit w/ Arrest
On June 11, at approximately 11pm, the VPD Communication Center received several calls regarding a possible shooting in the 11100 Blk of Citrus Dr. Officers responded to the location and saw a vehicle leaving the scene. One of the officers attempted to make a traffic stop of the vehicle and it failed to yield to the officer. The vehicle continued to evade the officers in the surrounding neighborhood and then entered eastbound Telegraph Rd. Officers pursued the vehicle eastbound on Telegraph Rd into the city of Santa Paula. The vehicle eventually yielded on the east end of Santa Paula in the area of the 1400 Bk of Harvard Blvd. The driver was taken into custody without incident and identified as 59 year old Ventura resident Meade Murphy. No one was injured as a result of the vehicle pursuit.
Officers conducted an investigation into the shooting and learned that Murphy had broken several windows to his own home, which was the noise that residents in the area heard. There was no evidence of any crime or victims in the 11100 Blk of Citrus Dr.
Murphy was later booked into the Ventura County Jail for felony evading.
Attempted Carjacking Arrest
On June 13, at approximately 5:15pm, the female victim returned to her parked vehicle in the 2400 block of Seahorse Avenue. As she approached her car, the suspect later identified as 28 year old Ventura resident Michael Hollingsworth, who had been hiding in nearby bushes, jumped out of the bushes in front of the victim. As he did so, he yelled at her and demanded the keys to her vehicle. The victim feared for her safety and began loudly screaming so other people in the surrounding area could hear her. This caused the suspect to initially back up from the victim and then run away on foot into the neighborhood. Responding patrol officers searched the area and found the suspect on Pierpont near Shelburn Lane.
The suspect was ultimately arrested and booked into Ventura County Jail for attempted carjacking. No one was physically injured during this incident.
Assault with a Deadly Weapon
On June 17, at approximately 3pm, the Ventura Police Department Command Center received a call of a family disturbance and reports that one of the family members, later identified as the victim, was being assaulted with an axe. Officers, along with Ventura City Fire and AMR personnel, responded to the call and found the victim suffering from multiple non-life threatening injuries to his upper body. He was treated at scene by medical personnel and released. The suspect, identified as 28 year old Ventura resident Ryan Cortez, fled the residence prior to officers arriving on scene.
During the investigation, the victim and Ryan Cortez, who are brothers, got into an argument. Cortez armed himself with a hammer and struck the victim several times.
The investigation into this incident is ongoing. Anyone with information about this crime, or may know the whereabouts of the suspect, is asked to contact the Ventura Police Department at 650-8010.
The City is starting to place these locked trash containers around town. I saw two already in place along the bike path. As I can attest, if you cut into the vagrants source of income (canning), they will go someplace else. Hopefully these will be placed all over Ventura. Now if the City would only put dividers (arm rests) at the center of each park beach to stop vagrants from sleeping on them.
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