Ventura County – On the morning of August 20th, the quiet unincorporated town of El Rio in the rural area of Ventura County, north of Oxnard off the 101 Freeway, was alerted to the sound of gunfire, following which a citizen’s 911 Emergency call to Ventura County Sheriff’s Department Headquarters Patrol Station summoned deputies to the reported scene.
Upon arrival at the 400 block of Salem Avenue, deputies discovered a vehicle parked in front of a home in which there were a pair of bullet holes. According to VCSD spokesman Sgt. Anthony Aguirre, there were neither victims, witnesses, nor suspects on the scene. Investigation of the vehicle followed as “the crime scene was processed for evidence.”
Just three days later, on August 23rd, Headquarters Patrol received another call reporting gunfire at the identical location, whereupon deputies promptly responded once again to the 400 Salem Avenue area residence. This time, however, VCSD patrol units had company with them: members of the Sheriff’s Gang Unit and of the Major Crimes Bureau. “Evidence of a shooting” was readily apparent to detectives, and immediate investigation identified Robert Grand, 19, an Oxnard resident, as the likely suspect.
Unable to locate Grand in the vicinity, VCSD detectives investigated his whereabouts and movements, locating him on August 24th just north of Santa Barbara in the city of Goleta, where he was taken into custody and arrested. At the time of his arrest, Grand was found to be in possession of multiple firearms—one of which had been reported as stolen, the other being an AR15 Assault Rifle with an illegal 30-round magazine—as well as additional evidence connecting him to the two shooting incidents in El Rio.
Grand was transported to Ventura County Jail where he was booked on charges of attempted murder, assault with a firearm, shooting at an inhabited dwelling, grand theft of a firearm, and possession of an assault rifle, with his bail set at $700,000.
Photo: Courtesy Ventura County Jail Booking
