Ed Lopez
VENTURA COUNTY — As if it isn’t difficult enough to maintain a positive, rewarding, and loving home life where a man and a woman can live in mutually supportive tranquility, some people appear to complicate matters by bringing controlled substances into the equation.
That may have been the spark that lit the fuse to a Santa Paula relationship in the middle of the night on March 1st. It was at approximately 10:20 p.m. when a citizen reported a combative situation that quickly brought Santa Paula Police Department officers to the scene.
Police display Lopez’ stash
According to the report of the SPPD Watch Commander, arriving officers observed 22-year-old Santa Paula resident Eduardo Lopez “pushing a woman and screaming at her.”
The arrival of uniformed patrol officers no doubt quelled the verbal and physical action, but during their investigation, the cops searched Lopez and found “a large quantity of methamphetamine located in the rear pocket of his pants.”
As these things go, one thing often leads to another, and it wasn’t long before the officers noticed a hat lying on the ground nearby which belonged to Lopez. Inside that hat were “two more plastic bags containing a large quantity of methamphetamine.”
Soon, the cops had searched his backpack and discovered assorted burglary tools, including a pair of bolt cutters and a modified screwdriver, known in the burglary trade as a “shaved key.”
While this fruitful search of Lopez was being conducted, it was also determined that he had an outstanding arrest warrant for petty theft.
Lopez was transported to Santa Paula Police Department for processing, and was then given a ride to Ventura County Jail, where he was booked on charges of domestic battery, possession of a controlled substance for sales, and possession of burglary tools, with his bail set at $52,500.
Photo: Courtesy Santa Paula Police Department
