Latest news with #VenturaPoliceDepartment
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Yahoo
Ventura police release details in 2023 homicide; suspect also charged in Ojai woman's death
The Ventura Police Department has released new details in a 2023 homicide, days after a suspect was arrested and charged in the case. The Ventura County District Attorney's Office charged Christian Alexandre Hillairet, 25, with two counts of murder on June 6. The charges stem from the recent killing of an Ojai woman and that of a Ventura man found dead in late 2023. The police department identified him as William Thompson, 46. This week the department said that authorities found Thompson's body on Nov. 5, 2023, near the railroad tracks in the 6600 block of Nightingale Street in Ventura. Officers had responded to a 911 call reporting a body near the tracks. The Ventura County Medical Examiner's Office later ruled his death a homicide. After what police described as a lengthy investigation, detectives obtained new evidence in the case when the sheriff's office arrested Hillairet in early June, according to a news release. Police did not provide details about the new evidence, saying doing so could jeopardize the case. Carolyn Nino De Rivera, 26, was found dead in a home in the Upper Ojai area on May 31. Investigators said they learned Hillairet, a suspect in the killing, had crossed the border into Mexico. With help from federal and Mexican authorities, he was arrested in Rosarito days later, officials said. He was booked into county jail on June 5. His arraignment on the murder charges has been continued and he has not yet entered a plea. The Ventura Police Department urged anyone with information about the Thompson case to contact the police at 805-650-8010. This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Ventura police release new details in 2023 homicide
Yahoo
12-04-2025
- Yahoo
Ventura barricade suspect allegedly threatened to kill officers, more news
Ventura police serving a search warrant with a SWAT team wound up in an hours-long standoff that lasted into the early hours of Friday, April 11, with a man who previously threatened to kill officers, authorities said. The barricade situation in the 300 block of North Catalina Street unfolded after an earlier incident involving the residence, Ventura Police Department officials said in a news release. The block in the city's midtown area is located north of Poli Street, near the Ventura High School campus. Patrol officers had previously responded to the home on April 5 to keep the peace when a former tenant was picking up her property. During the process, the primary resident, a 55-year-old Ventura man, had come out and threatened to kill the officers, saying he would "blow their skulls off," according to the police account. After the encounter, the man went back inside. Once everyone was safely away from the home, officers chose to disengage for the safety of the neighborhood, authorities said. Detectives subsequently investigated the April 5 incident and found the former tenant had tried to get her property in December. The suspect had reportedly struck and seriously injured her with the butt of a rifle. Based on the incidents, detectives secured an arrest and search warrant that was served shortly before 9 p.m. on April 10. Because of the suspect's prior behavior and his access to firearms, the operation involved Ventura's SWAT team and was assisted by Oxnard Police Department SWAT team members. Ventura City Fire crews were also on hand, along with a K-9 police dog. Four people immediately came out of the home when the warrant was served. They told officers the suspect was still inside and refusing to exit. They confirmed he had access to guns, according to the release. Crisis negotiators tried for several hours to get the man to come outside. He refused, authorities said. At around 2:35 a.m. on April 11, SWAT officers entered the home. They found the suspect barricaded in the bathroom and tried further negotiations, but he wouldn't come out. Officers then entered the bathroom and arrested the man without further incident. No injuries were reported, police officials said. When the arrest warrant was issued on the afternoon of April 10, prosecutors filed charges against the man that included two felony counts of criminal threats, a felony charge of battery with serious bodily injury and a misdemeanor resisting offense, the Ventura County Superior Court docket shows. No plea has yet been entered. The man was released from county jail custody on a $20,000 bail bond on the afternoon of April 11 and has a court appearance scheduled for April 25, according to jail and court records. An Oxnard man has been sentenced to prison after previously pleading guilty in to a second-degree murder outside a convenience store in the city more than eight years ago. Christopher Paul Arevalo, 33, was sentenced April 11 to 35 years to life in state prison, the court docket shows. He was given credit for time already served in jail. Arevalo had pleaded guilty March 13 in connection with the killing of 25-year-old Giovanni Vega, the Ventura County District Attorney's Office said. He also admitted to the special allegation that he personally used a firearm to commit the murder. Special allegations bring heavier sentences when there is a conviction. Arevalo and an associate entered the store on Dec. 8, 2016, and Vega walked in about a minute later, authorities have said. They followed him when he left the store. The defendant then caught up with the victim, asked where he was from and reportedly shot him four times. The next morning, a jogger discovered Vega's body along West Vineyard Avenue, about 130 yards from the store. Surveillance footage from the business led Oxnard Police Department investigators to Arevalo, authorities said. He was identified by the DA's office as a known gang member but the court docket shows an allegation related to gang activity was dismissed at sentencing. Arevalo was arrested five months after the shooting on April 28, 2017, in Farmington, New Mexico, after an FBI SWAT team served a search warrant at a home in the city, The Star reported. The associate, Joseph Minister, was arrested on the same date in Oxnard. Minister subsequently pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of being an accessory after the fact and admitted the special allegation of street terrorism. He is due to be sentenced on May 15. An Oxnard man, now 68, has been sentenced to hundreds of years in prison after being convicted in a years-old child molestation case, prosecutors said. Marcelino Arias Arca was sentenced on April 7 to 480 years to life in state prison, the Ventura County District Attorney's Office said, in a case involving two underage victims. Jurors had convicted him on March 5 of six felony counts of lewd acts upon a child. The jury also found true a special allegation there were multiple victims. Arca admitted to other special allegations that included two prior strike convictions for molestation in 1988, the DA's office said in a news release. Special allegations bring heavier sentences if a defendant is convicted. The abuse took place between 2005 and 2014, when the victims were under 14, prosecutors said. The molestation occurred in multiple locations over several years. Arca had access to the minors through a familial relationship, prosecutors said. The victims reported the incidents years later to a trusted family member. Senior Deputy DA Ben Moreno, who prosecuted the case, said in a statement Arca had gone to prison decades ago for sexually abusing a child. "When given a second chance, he chose not to change — instead, he went on to sexually abuse two more children, this time within his own family,' the prosecutor said. Arca remains housed at the Todd Road Jail facility outside Santa Paula. A restitution hearing has been scheduled for the morning of May 13 in courtroom 46. This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Man allegedly threatened to kill police before Ventura standoff, more
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Yahoo
Police investigating carjacking where 2 suspects stole car, drove for 5 minutes
Police in Ventura are looking into the circumstances surrounding an armed carjacking that occurred on Monday evening. A Ventura Police Department media release states that the incident began when a man sitting inside his vehicle at Grant Park in Ventura was approached by two men around 8:15 p.m., which is shortly before the park closes. 'One of the suspects was reportedly armed with a handgun and demanded that the victim exit the vehicle and surrender it,' the Ventura Police Department press release reads. 'The victim complied, and both suspects fled the area in his car.' Dramatic increase in arrests, citations at popular 'Deltopia' party in Southern California After the suspects fled, the victim was unable to immediately place a call to police as he had to walk down from the park to do so. Once notified, however, officers immediately began searching for the car and found it parked and unoccupied in the 100 block of East Center Street. That location is about a five-minute drive – or around one-and-a-half miles away – from where the original call came out at 699 Brakey Avenue. A search was conducted in the area for the suspects; however, authorities were unable to locate them or provide possible descriptions. Anyone with information related to this case is asked to call Ventura police: 1-805-650-8010. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Yahoo
Convicted rapist spray-painted swastikas in Ventura while on parole, police say
A convicted rapist has been rearrested in Ventura on suspicion of spray-painting swastikas throughout the city and then documenting the hate crimes on social media in an effort to sow fear, authorities said. John Williams, 30, was arrested Sunday and booked at the Ventura County Jail on suspicion of vandalism, a hate crime and a parole violation after officers connected him to at least five reports of spray-painted swastikas, according to the Ventura Police Department. "It appeared that Williams was spray painting swastikas and then taking photos of them and uploading to social media in an effort to give the appearance that other people were committing hate crimes and spreading fear," the department said in a statement. Read more: Ex-Torrance police officers charged with spray-painting swastika on car Williams was convicted of forcible rape in 2019 after pleading guilty to the 2015 crime, according to court records. At the time of his most recent arrest, he was on parole for the rape conviction, Police Department spokesperson Cmdr. Sarah Heard confirmed. The suspected serial swastika spray painter has a history of parole violations, court records show. Just 10 days before his most recent vandalism arrest, he was booked into Ventura County Jail on a parole hold, according to the county's inmate log. On Sunday morning, the department received a call from a business in the 1000 block of East Front Street near downtown Ventura reporting that someone had spray-painted a swastika on a wall of their property. Officers reviewed surveillance camera video of the crime and identified the suspect as Williams, police said. Then they received four more calls regarding swastikas spray-painted on public and private property throughout the city. While investigating the first vandalism, officers spotted Williams riding an electric scooter near Main and Ash streets. They said they made an enforcement stop and found evidence connecting him to the crimes. Williams is being held on $250,000 bail and is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday, according to the county's inmate log. He was booked on four counts of felony vandalism, one count of misdemeanor vandalism, one count of misdemeanor hate crime, one felony count of violating parole and one misdemeanor count of being in possession of a stun gun with a prior felony conviction, according to the inmate log. The U.S. has seen a significant surge in antisemitic hate crimes and vandalism in recent years. Read more: How antisemitism came roaring back into American life In the 12-month period after the Israel-Hamas war began on Oct. 7, 2023, the Anti-Defamation League reported more than 10,000 antisemitic incidents in the U.S. — a 200% increase from previous years and the highest number recorded. This included more than 1,840 incidents of antisemitic vandalism. L.A. County saw a 91% increase in anti-Jewish hate crimes from 2022 to 2023, the latest year for which data are available. The number of incidents rose to an all-time high of 242 from 124. In 2023, a Los Angeles man was charged with spray-painting swastikas on more than a dozen vehicles. Swastika graffiti have also been found in Santa Monica, West Hollywood, San Dimas, Calabasas and on the campuses of USC and UCLA. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
02-04-2025
- Los Angeles Times
Convicted rapist spray-painted swastikas in Ventura while on parole, police say
A convicted rapist has been rearrested in Ventura on suspicion of spray-painting swastikas throughout the city and then documenting the hate crimes on social media in an effort to sow fear, authorities said. John Williams, 30, was arrested Sunday and booked at the Ventura County Jail on suspicion of vandalism, a hate crime and a parole violation after officers connected him to at least five reports of spray-painted swastikas, according to the Ventura Police Department. 'It appeared that Williams was spray painting swastikas and then taking photos of them and uploading to social media in an effort to give the appearance that other people were committing hate crimes and spreading fear,' the department said in a statement. Williams was convicted of forcible rape in 2019 after pleading guilty to the 2015 crime, according to court records. At the time of his most recent arrest, he was on parole for the rape conviction, Police Department spokesperson Cmdr. Sarah Heard confirmed. The suspected serial swastika spray painter has a history of parole violations, court records show. Just 10 days before his most recent vandalism arrest, he was booked into Ventura County Jail on a parole hold, according to the county's inmate log. On Sunday morning, the department received a call from a business in the 1000 block of East Front Street near downtown Ventura reporting that someone had spray-painted a swastika on a wall of their property. Officers reviewed surveillance camera video of the crime and identified the suspect as Williams, police said. Then they received four more calls regarding swastikas spray-painted on public and private property throughout the city. While investigating the first vandalism, officers spotted Williams riding an electric scooter near Main and Ash streets. They said they made an enforcement stop and found evidence connecting him to the crimes. Williams is being held on $250,000 bail and is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday, according to the county's inmate log. He was booked on four counts of felony vandalism, one count of misdemeanor vandalism, one count of misdemeanor hate crime, one felony count of violating parole and one misdemeanor count of being in possession of a stun gun with a prior felony conviction, according to the inmate log. The U.S. has seen a significant surge in antisemitic hate crimes and vandalism in recent years. In the 12-month period after the Israel-Hamas war began on Oct. 7, 2023, the Anti-Defamation League reported more than 10,000 antisemitic incidents in the U.S. — a 200% increase from previous years and the highest number recorded. This included more than 1,840 incidents of antisemitic vandalism. L.A. County saw a 91% increase in anti-Jewish hate crimes from 2022 to 2023, the latest year for which data are available. The number of incidents rose to an all-time high of 242 from 124. In 2023, a Los Angeles man was charged with spray-painting swastikas on more than a dozen vehicles. Swastika graffiti have also been found in Santa Monica, West Hollywood, San Dimas, Calabasas and on the campuses of USC and UCLA.
