Juan Rodriguez Jr.
Ventura County – Just as Forrest Gump reflected in the movie “Forrest Gump”, dating can be “like a box of chocolates…you never know what you’re gonna get.”
That was certainly proved by the events allegedly transpiring between Juan Rodriguez Jr., a 30-year-old from El Rio and the young lady he was squiring around town in the predawn hours of August 1st, on a social engagement that came to qualify for high ranking in the pantheon of “Dates from Hell.”
According to Oxnard Police Department spokesman Sgt. Brett Smith, it was well past 5:00 a.m. when a 911 Emergency call to Oxnard PD Dispatch was made reporting an armed robbery. Responding officers found a distraught woman who indicated that she had been “on a date with Rodriguez.” As the long evening wound down with the breaking of dawn, things became far from romantic when “Rodriguez held the female at gunpoint and took her personal belongings.”
Rodriguez’s pistol that was recovered by officers.
The law enforcement response was immediate, with detectives from the Oxnard Violent Crimes Unit investigating the circumstances and soon identifying Rodriguez as completely lacking in romantic savoir faire and as a likely criminal perpetrator. Rodriguez, “currently in the Post Release Offender Program created by Assembly Bill 109,” was located by the cops approximately five hours later on an Oxnard street.
When it became apparent to Rodriguez that the Oxnard PD personnel was interested in making contact with him, he took off running and “a brief foot pursuit ensued” which ended with his apprehension and arrest. A subsequent search of Rodriguez’s vehicle revealed the loaded pistol which he apparently used to impress his date.
He was transported to Ventura County Jail, where he was booked on multiple felony and misdemeanor charges, including armed robbery, a felon in possession of a firearm, kidnapping, and parole violation.
Photo: Courtesy Ventura County Jail Booking
