Ventura County – Using a firearm in broad daylight to forcibly rob a victim is either a sign of considerable bravado, recklessness, or desperation; pulling a gun on someone reasonably implies that the perpetrator simply wants to quash any possible resistance to his thieving behavior.
Given that, the events of January 23, 2015 transpiring in the park-like setting of Ventura County’s Rancho Conejo Playfields, as described by Ventura County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Detective Billy Hutton, are striking in the nature of the victims involved. According to Hutton, Deangelo Antwan Bynum, a 29-year-old resident of Port Hueneme, perpetrated an armed robbery against six juvenile victims who were gathered in the park at midday and “pointed a gun at them and demanded their property.”
Bynum allegedly fled the scene with “an undisclosed amount of money,” and remained unidentified for several months, during which detectives relentlessly pursued viable leads. Over those months, pursuant to multiple victim statements and descriptions of the suspect, investigators “developed a lead in the investigation which led them to the suspect Deangelo Bynum.” All leads pointed to an individual attached to the Ventura County Naval Base, which prompted Ventura County Sheriff’s Department investigators to contact the regional Naval Criminal Investigative Service (the same law enforcement organization dramatized in the eponymous television series “NCIS”).
As a result of that collaborative effort, on July 29th the Thousand Oaks Police Special Enforcement Unit made contact with Bynum at the Navy base where he was found in possession of a firearm and took him into custody. He was then transported to Ventura County Jail, where he was booked on charges of 2nd Degree Armed Robbery and remains held without bail.
Photo: courtesy Ventura County Jail Booking
