Chris Silva Gallegos
VENTURA COUNTY — There may be no more peaceful and aesthetic a community anywhere in Southern California than the City of Ojai. Nestled in the foothills just north of the City of Ventura, Ojai has long been a place of spiritual respite, the kind of town where bicycles and front doors may reasonable go unlocked without fear of crime.
Sadly, those days may be in the past, as evidenced by the mid-afternoon April 30th arrest of 19-year-old Chris Silva Gallegos, who was a passenger in a vehicle pulled over by Ojai Patrol Deputies attached to the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department pursuant to a routine traffic violation.
The confiscated gun
Upon contact with the driver, deputies quickly determined that Gallegos was in possession of what VCSD spokesman Sgt. Victor Medina described as “a loaded 10 mm semi-automatic handgun with a high capacity magazine, concealed on his person.”
As those things often proceed, Gallegos’ sobriety was then brought into question, leading deputies to conclude that he was under the influence of a controlled substance and also in possession of a controlled substance as well as assorted drug paraphernalia.
Wherever Gallegos may have been headed on that fine afternoon, he never completed the journey, as he was taken into custody and transported down the hill from Ojai to the Ventura County Jail, where he was booked on charges of possession of a loaded handgun, carrying a concealed firearm, possession of a high-capacity magazine, possession of a controlled substance, and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Photos: Courtesy Ventura County Jail Booking, Ventura County Sheriff
