Joseph Salas
VENTURA COUNTY — It was the wee hours of the morning on April 29th when the Camarillo Police Department 911 Emergency Dispatch received a call reporting a carjacking and robbery wherein three suspects had relieved the driver who had been kind enough to offer them transportation of his vehicle and his cash.
According to Ventura County Sheriff’s Department Major Crimes Bureau spokesman Detective Randy Skaggs, the driver was giving a ride to Oxnard residents Carlos Avila, Joseph Salas, and an unidentified male juvenile from Oxnard to Camarillo when “the front male passenger simulated having a firearm and all three suspects ordered the victim out of his vehicle.”
Carlos Avila
Undoubtedly eager to comply when faced with a firearm, the victim alighted from his car and his former passengers took off with his car… only to return shortly thereafter and with the use of force took “the victim’s wallet which contained cash.”
The three bandits then headed for Ventura, where—while the victim was giving Camarillo Police the details of his frightening experience—they were quickly the subject of an attempted traffic stop at the hands of Ventura Police Department patrol officers pursuant to a perceived violation of the local area speed limit.
A short pursuit ensued, and when the vehicle finally came to a stop, the driver took off running, leaving his two passengers in the hands of the law. But—unaware of the events in Camarillo—officers merely identified the two guys in the car and then released them.
The following morning, with all the evidence of the events in Camarillo at hand, deputies from the Ventura County Sheriff’s Gang Unit and from the Oxnard Police Department descended upon the residences of Salas and Avila, summarily taking them into custody and transporting them to Ventura County Jail, where they were booked on charges of carjacking and robbery.
Avila’s bail was set at $105,000, while Salas’ was set at $200,000; the male juvenile “was lodged into Juvenile Hall with no bail.”
Photos: Courtesy Ventura County Jail Booking
