News

Aug 01, 2023

Roundup: DUI arrest after Highway 101 crash in Ventura, more news

Here's a roundup of recent incidents and announcements from Ventura County and

Here's a roundup of recent incidents and announcements from Ventura County and regional agencies:

A Camarillo man was arrested and a Ventura man transported to the hospital Monday evening after a crash on northbound Highway 101 near Johnson Drive, authorities said.

The California Highway Patrol said the 21-year-old Camarillo man was driving a Dodge Charger when he struck an Acura SUV driven by the 66-year-old Ventura man. The crash was reported shortly before 6 p.m.

The collision caused the SUV to spin out across lanes and travel down an embankment, where it hit a light pole and concrete wall, the CHP said. The SUV driver suffered serious but not life-threatening injuries and was taken to the hospital.

The driver of the Dodge Charger was not injured but was arrested on suspicion of two felony counts related to DUI and a misdemeanor for speed. He was booked into Ventura County jail. The 21-year-old is being held on $80,000 bail and was expected to appear in Ventura County Superior Court Tuesday afternoon.

The CHP said the crash is still under investigation. Anyone who witnessed the incident is asked to contact the agency's Ventura-area office at 805-662-2640.

Authorities on Tuesday identified the hiker found dead Sunday in the Santa Paula Canyon area of Los Padres National Forest.

Armando Tinajero-Rodriguez, 52, was a Santa Paula resident, according to the Ventura County Medical Examiner's Office. The cause of death was found to be atherosclerotic coronary artery disease and the manner natural.

Sheriff's officials previously said Tinajero-Rodriguez had been hiking alone and had a medical problem. Another person called 911 around 12:30 p.m.

The trails to the Punch Bowls area, with waterfalls and natural pools, are a popular hiking destination. Tinajero-Rodriguez had been found by other hikers in rocky terrain about 2-3 miles from a trailhead along Santa Paula-Ojai Road, authorities said. Sheriff's officials recovered his body by helicopter.

Ventura County Sheriff's detectives seized drugs, cash and guns and arrested five men last month after investigating a suspected drug delivery service.

The operation, based in San Bernardino County, allegedly included a delivery driver who supplied nearly 100 Ventura County residents. The driver made daily trips to customers from Ojai to Thousand Oaks, dropping off narcotics including heroin and methamphetamine, authorities said Monday in a news release.

The operation had been under investigation since March. Such services typically include a cell leader who oversees operations and arranges for deliveries of drugs and money between Mexico and the U.S., sheriff's officials said. There are also dispatchers, stash house operators, couriers — who receive incoming shipments and distribute product to suppliers — and delivery drivers who ferry narcotics to local customers.

A 40-year-old man from the city of Colton in San Bernardino County was identified as the alleged head of the service and its fulltime dispatcher. A Canoga Park man, 31, was reportedly the delivery driver for Ventura County, and two other men from Colton worked as delivery drivers elsewhere. Detectives observed the Canoga Park man deliver drugs to multiple Ventura County customers, authorities said.

On May 31, the sheriff's agency served multiple search warrants. The suspected local delivery driver was taken into custody in Camarillo, while the three others were arrested in public parking lots in San Bernardino County. Searches of vehicles, residences and an automotive service center believed to be a stash house led to discovery of drugs, firearms and cash. In addition, a man from Mexico living with the alleged cell leader was also arrested.

In all, detectives confiscated more than 3.5 pounds of heroin, more than 2,800 counterfeit prescription pills containing fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, more than 3 ounces of meth, an ounce of cocaine, seven firearms and cash from suspected drug sales.

A female inmate found dead at the Todd Road Jail early Sunday has been identified by the Ventura County Medical Examiner's Office as Cynthia L. Rizalla, 53, of Oxnard.

Rizalla had been found unresponsive in her cell at the county facility outside Santa Paula around 2:20 a.m., sheriff's officials said. Jail staff and paramedics provided medical aid.

The cause and manner of death have not yet been determined, the medical examiner's office said Tuesday.

Ventura County Superior Court records indicate she had been scheduled for a jury trial Thursday on misdemeanor shoplifting and drug possession charges.

Three people died in a two-vehicle crash in Santa Barbara County Tuesday morning, the California Highway Patrol reported.

The collision occurred shortly before 6 a.m. on northbound Highway 1, south of Constellation Road, in the Vandenberg Village area north of Lompoc.

The three who died were in a 2008 Kia sedan, authorities said. A male was driving with two female passengers. Their ages and cities of residence weren't known, according to a CHP news release sent late Tuesday afternoon.

The Kia had been traveling southbound on Highway 1 when the driver, for unknown reasons, allowed the sedan to travel into oncoming traffic lanes. The Kia sedan ran directly into the path of a northbound Chevrolet pickup truck, CHP officials said.

Two Lompoc men in the pickup, a 52-year-old driver and 19-year-old passenger, suffered minor injuries and were taken to a hospital.

The crash is under investigation by the CHP's Buellton-area office. The agency's initial investigation found neither drugs nor alcohol appeared to be a factor.

-- Items may be updated.