Photo: Christopher Hays
Ventura – 37-year-old Ventura resident Christopher Hays has not had a good month. On April 1, 2019, Hays took the occasion of “April Fool’s Day” to make a number of phone calls to the Ventura Police Department that, perhaps, he now regrets.
According to City of Ventura Police Department spokesman Sr. Deputy Cyrus Zadeh, those phone calls “included threats to members of the police department” as well as to administrators and teachers at local public schools. By way of response, VPD Sergeant Sam Harbert drove to the parking lot area of the Ventura County Government Center and located Hays near a payphone.
Upon making contact with Hays, Harbert was verbally threatened by him. Moments later, Hays “physically assaulted him,” and quickly gained control of Harbert’s baton. With the cop’s non-lethal weapon now in his possession, Hays began throttling Harbert with it, battering him about the arms and head. At that point Harbert drew his service pistol and “fired two shots that struck hays in the abdomen.”
That brought Hays’ assault to an immediate halt, and he was then transported to a local area hospital for treatment of two gunshot wounds. He was released from the hospital nearly a month later, on May 30th, whereupon he was taken into custody and arrested for assault with a deadly weapon upon a police officer.
Hays was transported from the hospital to Ventura County jail, where he was booked with his bail set at $250,000.
Photo: Courtesy Ventura Police Department
