VENTURA COUNTY — The city of Thousand Oaks, straddling the border between southernmost Ventura County and the northwestern limits of Los Angeles County, has historically been associated with wide, tree-lined streets and rambling upscale neighborhoods.
Apparently, however, the character of the community has been impacted by its proximity to the urban sprawl marching northward up U.S. 101 and it is now the site of frequent gang-related criminal activity.
The community response — a widely-publicized lack of tolerance for all criminal activity and for that associated with any of the area’s known street gangs — was apparent on September 2nd.
It was just after dawn on that Friday morning when the Thousand Oaks Police Department Special Enforcement and Gang Unit details, working closely with the Camarillo Police Department’s Special Enforcement Detail, made four felony arrests of reputed gang members.
The arrests of Bryan Pahua, 19, Hector Delgado, 18, Sergio Yudico, 20, and Nelson Felipe, 18 — each of whom is himself a resident of Thousand Oaks—took place pursuant to the issuance of multiple search warrants at residences scattered throughout the city.
According to Ventura County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. John Wright, the service of those search warrants “yielded evidence related to several gang-related crimes,” at no less than three separate locations and provided substantial probable cause for the arrests of the four suspects on felony charges ranging from possession of dangerous weapons to robbery.
Delgado, Pahua, and Yudico were arrested for “felony possession of dangerous weapons for the benefit of a criminal street gang,” while Felipe was arrested on charges of robbery and assault with a deadly weapon for the benefit of a criminal street gang. All four were transported to Ventura County Jail Pre-Trial Detention Facility.
Photo: Courtesy www.thousandoaks.com
