Raul Cruz
Ventura County – “Situational awareness” is a term heard more frequently by law enforcement officials advising the public of behavior that frustrates rather than enables criminal activity. In the case of a female pedestrian walking down the streets of Moorpark on the morning of Monday, November 2nd, “situational awareness” may well have kept her from becoming a victim of a violent strong arm robbery.
According to Ventura County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Sgt. Alan Hartkop, it was approximately 9:45 a.m. when the victim was walking along a sidewalk as 19-year-old Oxnard resident Raul Cruz approached her and suddenly “grabbed a purse that was around the victim’s shoulder.” In doing so, Hartkop indicated, Cruz “aggressively pulled the purse” away from her, then sprinted off to a waiting vehicle some distance away. Cruz then climbed behind the wheel and sped away, fleeing the neighborhood.
A 911 Emergency call from the victim summoned deputies to the scene, where the victim “complained of pain to her left arm,” but appeared otherwise uninjured. Based upon the investigation that followed, detectives traveled to the City of Oxnard, where just nine hours after the alleged crime, Cruz was “located and arrested for second degree robbery.” At his residence, Cruz was found to be in possession of evidence connecting him to the robbery, including property belonging to the victim.
Cruz was arrested at his home and transported to Ventura County Jail, where he was booked on a charge of second degree robbery with his bail set at $50,000.
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