Photo: Jerome Perkins
April 2, 2020 – Ventura County – One of the more interesting things about living in the quiet communities of Southern California is that you just never know what the guy living next door might be up to.
Case in point: according to Ventura County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Sgt. Peter Frank, VCSD deputies attached to the Camarillo Patrol received during the last week of March 2020 “a call for service regarding numerous firearms” inside a vehicle parked on a quiet residential street in the City of Camarillo.
Responding deputies looked through the vehicle windows and observed “several rifles” that did not appear to be in “compliance with current California Department of Justice firearms standards.”
That’s putting it mildly, as further investigation revealed that two of weapons were “assault style rifles illegal to possess in California” that had apparently been pieced together from various sources. It didn’t take the cops long to run the registration on the vehicle and determine that the registered owner was 40-year-old Ventura resident Jerome Perkins.
With their suspect clearly identified, on the morning of April 2nd deputies of the Camarillo Special Enforcement Detail made contact with Perkins, detained him, and served a search warrant on his home and on an Oxnard storage unit rented in his name.
The ensuing search at those three locations lead to the discovery of “ten assault style rifles, one handgun, one shotgun, three high-powered bolt action WW2 style rifles, high capacity magazines, and an assortment of ammunition.” In all, a total of 23 firearms were seized, several of which were unregistered or were illegal to possess in the State of California.
Perkins was taken into custody and transported to Ventura County Jail, where he was booked on multiple charges of transporting, importing, possession, and manufacturing assault rifles, with his bail set at $100,000.
Photo: Courtesy Ventura County Jail Booking
