Photo: Jose Luis Torres
February 24, 2021 – Ventura County, Ca.
The rules surrounding probation in the State of California are easy enough for anyone—particularly those who have been convicted of prior crimes and are free under the watchful eye of law enforcement and the Ventura County Probation Department—to understand.
Among those guidelines designed to inhibit further criminal activity by formerly convicted individuals is the one designed to limit probationers’ contact with, or possession of, firearms and ammunition. Apparently that proscription failed to impress Ventura County resident Jose Luis Torres.
Arianna Ceja
It was late in the afternoon of February 22 nd when Torres—in the company of Port Hueneme resident Arianna Ceja—was contacted by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department Investigations Unit and the Sheriff’s Gang Unit at Ventura’s Harbor Boulevard Motel 6 for the purposes of conducting a not-to-be-unexpected probation search.
According to VCSD spokesman Sgt. Beau Rodriguez, once deputies were inside Torres’ motel room, they located “a loaded .45 caliber semi-automatic handgun” along with a “bag of live ammunition,” Just the sort of things no thoughtful probationer should be carrying around.
Torres was taken into custody and transported to Ventura County Jail, where he was book “for various firearms violations” with his bail set at $250,000. Cejas was also arrested and charged on an outstanding arrest warrant and with being under the influence of a controlled substance.
Photos: Courtesy Ventura County Jail Booking
