Ventura County – As Benjamin Franklin himself remarked, “glass, china, and reputation are easily cracked, and never mended well,” words that might well be applied to the personal, public, and legal histories of Salvador Velgara, a 26-year old resident of Fillmore, in eastern Ventura County.
Having already acquired a felony record and known by law enforcement authorities as a documented gang member, Velgara might naturally expect to be under the watchful eye of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Gang Unit and to conduct himself with a degree of circumspect caution throughout his daily affairs. Such does not appear to be the case, as Velgara—recently “suspected of illegal firearms and narcotics activity” according to VCSD spokesman Det. J. Holt—was the subject of a search warrant served upon his residence on October 31st.
During the search of his residence and vehicle, Velgara was found to be in possession of multiple firearms, including an unregistered assault rifle, a plethora of ammunition, and various narcotics, which Holt did not specify in his report to the media. Joanna Cruz, 24, was also in the house, along with her two small children. VCSD Narcotics Detectives conducted a thorough Drug Endangered Children investigation and ultimately remanded the children into the custody of Child Protective Services.
Both Velgara and Cruz were arrested at the scene and transported to Ventura County Jail where he was booked on charges of possession of marcotics for sale while armed with a loaded, operable firearm, possession of an assault weapon, being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition, and street terrorism. As he was out on bail at the time of his arrest, his bail was set at $500,000.
For her failure to qualify as Mother of the Year, Cruz was charged with felony child endangerment, possession of narcotics for sale while armed with a loaded, operable firearm, and possession of an assault weapon, with her bail set at $250,000.
Read more:
Fillmore Gazette: Fillmore man arrested on various charges
Sespe Sun: Assault weapons/narcotics sales/child endangerment
VCStar: Two arrested after search warrant carried out
