KVTA News Briefs
Tuesday March 04, 2025
Deputies have made an arrest in connection with a reported sexual assault on a local bus.
A 37-year-old Ventura woman reported that last Friday she has been sexually assaulted by a stranger while riding on a local public transit bus.
She had boarded the bus in Camarillo and exited in Ventura.
Detectives say the bus company immediately started reviewing transaction history as well as video footage from inside the bus to help them identify a possible suspect.
By Sunday they had identified the suspect and located him waiting for a bus in the 2700 block of Johnson Drive in Ventura.
He initially refused their order to stop but was ultimately taken into custody.
The 49-year-old Oxnard man was booked into the Ventura County Jail for sexual assault and he remains locked up with bail set at $500,000.
He is due in court Tuesday to face charges.
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The man who allegedly beat-up a sick sea lion on the beach near the Ventura promenade earlier this month has pleaded not guilty to felony animal cruelty and drug charges.
The incident was captured on police surveillance cameras in the area and officers responded to the scene.
They say 31-year-old Christopher Hurtado tried to run away but was captured.
They say he use a large stick to strike the sea lion several times.
At the time the sea lion was suffering from domoic acid poisoning which is a naturally occurring toxin in algae and the food that sea lions eat.
Hurtado remains in the Ventura County Jail with bail set at $25,000 and is due back in court next week.
The Channel Islands Marine and Wildlife Institute also responded to monitor the animal's condition.
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The Ventura County Sheriff's Office says they've arrested three gang members and are still looking for a fourth following a gang related fight in Fillmore.
It happened last Friday evening in the 500 block of Edison Lane in Fillmore and involved 15 to 20 individuals.
When deputies arrived, those involved scattered but they were able to chase four suspects across the Santa Clara River into the unincorporated Bardsdale area.
They caught three but the fourth suspect managed to elude them by disappearing into the thick riverbed brush and increasing darkness.
The three who were caught are all from Fillmore including a 24-year-old male adult and two male juveniles ages 16 and 17.
The victims were identified only as two male adults.
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Ventura County Sheriff's detectives are investigating a residential burglary in a gated community in Thousand Oaks in which the suspects got away with more than $100,000 in jewelry and cash.
It was reported Monday around 5:20 PM in the gated community off Ventu Park Road and Ramona Drive.
The residents were not home at the time but they did receive a break-in alarm.
They found that unknown suspects had smashed the rear sliding glass door and then went through the home where they took the jewelry and cash and then fled before deputies arrived.
