Ventura County Medical Center
Ventura – Knives, guns, brass knuckles, stilettos, ice picks, baseball bats, lead pipes…those are the things that usually come to mind when one thinks of “deadly weapons.”
Apparently, however, based upon the report issued by the Ventura Police Department Watch Commander’s office, 53-year-old Oxnard resident Adam Barcenas has his own, unique and very personal concept of what serves as the best weapon for inflicting harm upon those who may become targets of his rage. Evidence of that occurred late on the morning of November 19th in the parking lot of the Ventura County Medical Center when Barcenas approached a uniformed Oxnard police officer who was in the act of “retrieving equipment from his patrol car.”
According to the incident report, “Barcenas was holding a brick and was about to throw the brick at the officer” when the officer, clearly trained in the theory and practice of “situational awareness,” reacted to the presence, posture, and attitude of Barcenas—and likely to the sight of a brick in his upraised hand—and promptly unholstered his service weapon. The officer immediately projected a verbal command, ordering Barcenas to “drop the brick.” Suprisingly, based upon what was initially aberrant behavior in the extreme, Barcenas complied with the officer’s suggestion and dropped the brick.
Additional VPD units arrived on the scene and helped Barcenas into a pair of handcuffs, whereupon he was transported to Ventura County Jail and then booked on charges of assault with a deadly weapon upon a police officer.
NOTE – it’s been a busy 2 months for Barcenas, with arrests on October 12 for battery on a peace officer for and November 13 for resisting/obstructing a peace officer.
Photo: courtesy Ventura County Medical Center
