Ventura County Sheriff's Department

An investigation by the Fillmore Police Gang Unit of two incidents of gang violence in the City of Fillmore led to the service of five search warrants at homes in the cities of Fillmore and Moorpark. The searches led to the arrest of four suspects involved in the two incidents, and two subjects were arrested on unrelated drug charges. The District Attorney’s Office, Santa Paula Police and Sheriff’s Gang Unit assisted in the warrant service.

The investigation of this incident began on February 28, 2009, when at about 9:00 P.M., at least four Fillmore gang members were attending a family party at a hall located in the 500 Block of Second Street, in Fillmore. The gang members exchanged words with a guest (victim) at the party and subsequently battered the victim. On Thursday, May 21, Francisco Torres 18, Fillmore, and two juveniles were arrested for felony counts of conspiracy to commit a crime, vandalism, battery and street terrorism. Torres was booked at the Main Jail, with bail set at $100,000. The two juveniles were lodged in juvenile hall pending further proceedings. Suspect DeAnza Espinoza 19, Fillmore, was charged with felony possession of a controlled substance and booked at the Main Jail. His bail was set at $10,000. The search warrants were served in the 600 Block of Via Rodeo, 300 Block of McNab Ct, 300 Block of D St. and 700 Block of Del Valle in Fillmore. CONTINUED »

Ventura County Sheriff's Department

2019 hrs: FILLMORE: S091460820 - Fight in Progress / 300 Block A Street, FI. RP advised that two subjects were fighting in front of the location. Josue Martinez 25 years and Rene Hernandez 38 years began fighting today. Martinez suffered a head laceration from being hit with a large rock by Hernandez. Hernandez was also struck with a large branch by Martinez. Martinez and Hernandez were both arrested for Felony 245 PC Battery and transported to jail 09-12995 2330 hrs: FILLMORE: S091460943 - Observation Arrest / King Street and Howard Street, FI. Deputy Rodriguez (6A21) observed a vehicle that matched the description of a hit and run suspect vehicle from earlier in the day. The driver, Oscar Arevalo 33 years old was arrested and booked in jail for Felony 12020 PC - Possession of a Billy. Club and Misdemeanor Hit and Run 09-012989. Courtesy of Fillmore P.D.

Fillmore Unified School District

To the Editor of the Fillmore Gazette:
By: John Garnica, Fillmore Unified School District Board President
I was disappointed to read the “article” submitted by the Fillmore Unified Teacher’s Association. First, the article was presented on the Gazette’s front page as factual, instead of opinion. Secondly, neither the administration nor the board was given the opportunity to counter any of the claims made in the article. Last, there was no by-line under the headline of the article - it is only at the end of article that we discover the authors the article are the teacher’s union leadership. That said, let me point out factual errors, and let the reader decide whether that “article” was actually news, or just opinion.
First, the board’s stated goal has always been to keep the cuts as far away from children as possible. The union leadership claims we only cut teachers and classified staff who are closest to children, instead of administration. In fact, the administration was the first to feel the pain, as we decided in January not to fill one administration position (technology director) and later cut another full-time quasi-administrative position at the district level. Out of senior administrative staff, this represents 2 positions out of 8, or a 25% reduction. Later, the board authorized to reduce administrative pay through a decrease in their work days. I personally spoke to Ms. Marvel and reminded her of these facts after one particular board study session, but apparently Ms. Marvel has forgotten our conversation. To set the record straight, the district administration took the first cuts, and continued to take cuts as we moved through the budget building process. CONTINUED »

“The District is aware of the allegations raised in the May 14 issue of the Gazette. Please rest assured that a full investigation is underway; however, because the article is directed at one or more District employees, at this point the investigation must be regarded as a confi dential personnel matter”.

On Saturday, May 16, 2009 at about 3:10 P.M, a nine year-old female [Denise Arredondo] Piru resident drowned at Lake Piru.
The young Piru girl was wading in water about 50 yards off shore in the Lake's day use area. She was being supervised by adult family members. Suddenly, she slipped underwater and her family immediately ran through the water to the area she had been playing. They searched for her and Lake Rangers were contacted by her father. She was not wearing a flotation device.
Rangers responded immediately in a rescue boat and started searching underwater. They were assisted by an off-duty Sheriff's Helicopter Paramedic. A Sheriff's rescue helicopter arrived and deployed a rescue diver.
Senior Deputy Shane Matthews conducted a diving search for the missing girl in about 8 feet of water. The visibility was less than 3 inches due to the high winds on the lake. Shortly thereafter, Senior Deputy Matthews found her submerged. He brought her to the surface and began resuscitation efforts with the assistance of rangers and other emergency personnel. She succumbed and was pronounced deceased at the scene.

Ventura County Sheriff's Department

On 3-11-2009, a male subject fired several handgun rounds at a group of individuals standing in the 3900 Blk of Citrus View Drive, in Piru. No one was hit but several of the rounds struck a neighboring house.

Gang investigators later identified the suspect as Fillmore gang member Jose Aguilar, 22 yrs. On 3-20-2009, Gang investigators served four search warrants and arrested Aguilar for attempted murder. Gang investigators also identified the person who drove Aguilar to the shooting scene as Arturo Isarraras, 18 yrs. He was also arrested on 3-20-2009.

On Friday, 5/15/09, the Sheriff’s Gang Unit and several members of the Ventura Police Department served six additional search warrants in an attempt to locate the gun used in the March 11th shooting. Four guns were seized and one person was arrested during the searches. All of the locations searched were the homes of fellow Fillmore gang members. CONTINUED »

Enlarge Photo

Enlarge Photo

Enlarge Photo

Enlarge Photo

Enlarge Photo

Enlarge Photo

Enlarge Photo

Enlarge Photo

Enlarge Photo

On Wednesday, April 29, 2009, Brandi Walker, a fourth grade teacher at San Cayetano School, took two students to the 2009 NES National Student Symposium in Houston, Texas. Angelica Mercado, age 11, and Taylor Wright, age 9, were chosen to present their robotics project at the symposium. Taylor and Angelica had previously been part of the two robotics teams that competed at the Southern California NES NASA JPL Robotics Competition winning first and fourth place respectively. The teacher and students were flown, free of charge, to Houston, Texas. The girls presented their power point in front of a panel of NASA engineers and scientists. The panel asked the students follow up questions when they were done with their presentation. Following this, the students went to activities where they were able to touch rocks from the Moon and engineer machines to shoot water at a target. The afternoon was spent touring Johnson Space Center, where students were able to see the Neutral Buoyancy Lab, while the astronauts were training, life-size mockups of the US and Russian space shuttles and space station, as well as Rocket Park. The following day, the students were taken to Space Center Houston, where they learned about the history of space flight. An education specialist led them through an activity on building rockets. The girls were then able to test their rockets in a game of Rocket Golf with their fellow rocket engineers. After lunch, a space-suit engineer gave a demonstration and seminar on the space suit. The afternoon finished with a panel of NASA employees speaking and answering questions about their careers at NASA. A closing ceremony was held on Friday evening, in which each student was recognized for their participation in the symposium and given a NASA medal and certificate. This was a once in a life-time experience for the students and teacher who were invited to participate in the three days fully funded by NASA.

The NASA Explorer Schools Project establishes a three-year partnership between NASA and school teams to help fourth through ninth grade education communities improve teaching and learning in science, technology, math and engineering. The project works primarily with diverse groups of students who are underrepresented in these disciplines or who are traditionally underserved in rural or urban parts of the country. The project joins educators, students and families in sustained involvement with NASA's research, discoveries and missions.
The opportunity to participate in the symposium was open to all current NASA Explorer Schools. Students were required to complete a research investigation focused on NASA missions or research interests, including science, aerospace, reduced gravity, robotics, plant growth in space, or living and working in space.