VENTURA COUNTY — In a case that might have been ripped from national headlines reporting the conflicts between California law and federal imperatives to enforce immigration and deportation arrest protocols, undocumented 34-year-old Moorpark resident Jose Vaca is now the subject of a Ventura County Sheriff’s Department manhunt pursuant to his failure to appear in court as ordered to on January 19th.
Vaca was initially identified as the suspect in the April 2016 case of a 13-year-old Moorpark girl’s report of “continuous sexual abuse.” According to VCSD spokesman Sgt. Eric Buschow, Vaca “fled to Mexico” before he could be arrested. Two months later, an arrest warrant was issued against Vaca on suspicion of continuous sexual abuse of a minor.
Eighteen months later, Vaca was located residing in Ventura County and was arrested on the outstanding warrant, with his bail set at $100,000. 25 hours later, he bailed out and was released from custody in spite of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) hold for Vaca transmitted to the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department.
In disregard of that federal notice, VCSD deputies didn’t notify ICE of Vaca’s impending release, citing California Senate Bill 54 which “did not allow the notification under the circumstances” because SB 54 “requires that the arrestee has been arrested, booked, and appeared before a judge prior to ICE being notified.”
Because Vaca managed to post bail before appearing in court, he may have slipped through the fingers of law enforcement once again. Upon his release on bail, however, Vaca agreed to appear in court on January 19th… a date which he may have forgotten to note in his desk calendar, as he failed to show up and earned himself a new bench warrant for his arrest to the tune of $250,000. As noted by Buschow, “Detectives are actively trying to locate Vaca.”
Photo: Courtesy Ventura County Jail Booking
