A boat overturned on Lake Piru Sunday, causing the rescue of 14 people from the cold waters. Ventura Fire personnel rescued all the victims.

A call went out from a park ranger at 4:30pm, reporting a capsized boat in the north end of the popular recreational lake. It was reported that the 16-foot vessel was cited for having too many people on board and not enough life jackets. The Sheriff’s Department said rough waters and high winds also contributed to the incident.
Five adults, and nine children, ranging from infants to eight years old, were on board the overloaded boat. Most of the children were wearing life vests.

The Ventura County Fire Department responded with three engine companies, four ambulances and the Sheriff’s helicopter at the scene. The helicopter was cancelled when a medi-vac helicopter out of Los Angeles County was called to transport two patients to the hospital. Another seven patients were taken to local hospitals by ambulance. The rest were treated at the scene and released. Only minor injuries were reported.

City of Fillmore

05/27/14
Vandalism
D St./Ventura St.
400 Blk. Fillmore St.
Accident – Non Injury
Central Ave./Ventura St.
Disturbance Fireworks
400 Blk. Blaine Ave.
05/28/14
Battery
800 Blk. 3rd St.
Accident – Non Injury
Los Serenos Dr./Ventura St.
Theft Residential
300 Blk. Blaine Ave.
Surveillance
600 Blk. Saratoga St.
Hit & Run – Non Injury
N C St./Ventura St.
05/29/14
Vandalism
600 Blk. Lemon Way
300 Blk. 4th St.
Abandoned Vehicle
Mockingbird Ln./Oriole Cir.
Forgery
1100 Blk. Oriole Cir.
05/30/14
Search Warrant CONTINUED »

UPDATE: Mike Herdman's body was found on Friday, 2-weeks to the day he disappeared in the wood Sesoe backcountry.
A major search is underway for a missing off-duty Arcadia firefighter in the Los Padres National Forest north of Fillmore. Mike Herdman, 34, has been missing since Friday in the Tar Creek Trail area.

Herdman was hiking in the rugged terrain with a fellow firefighter, Taylor Byars. The two were sitting around a campfire Friday night when Herman’s dog ran off and he ran after it. He was barefoot and wearing only shorts and a T-shirt. Byars searched for Herdman but could not locate him.

The Ventura County Sheriff’s Department dispatched two helicopters and a Search and Rescue Team of approximately 15 on Monday, but was unable to locate Herdman. Rescue personnel were back out at first light on Tuesday to resume the search in the Dough Flat area, where a temporary command post has been set up.

Herdman is an experienced hiker but has no food or water with him. He is a seven year veteran of the Arcadia Fire Department.

Ventura County Sheriff's Department

On Saturday 06/07/2014, members of the Fillmore Police Department, Ventura County Sheriff’s Office, and Ventura County Probation Agency conducted multiple searches of residences of parolees and probationers in the City of Fillmore and the surrounding unincorporated areas. This operation was funded by a California state grant for supervising post-release and serious habitual offenders, due to state prison Realignment Act (AB 109).

Sheriff’s Deputies visited forty-two Fillmore area locations Saturday morning and conducted probation / parole searches, and served multiple felony arrest warrants. Of the probationers and parolees contacted, 19 subjects were arrested for a variety of charges, ranging from narcotics violations to felon in possession of ammunition charges. Six individuals were booked into the Ventura County Jail, while the remaining were cited and released.

Similar operations have been conducted in Camarillo, Thousand Oaks, Moorpark, Ojai, and the Ventura/Oxnard unincorporated areas in recent months.

Unit(s) Responsible: Fillmore Police Department and multiple specialized units of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office, and the Ventura County Probation Agency.

Prepared by: Sergeant Mario Aguilar

Ventura County Crime Stoppers will pay up to $1,000 reward for information, which leads to the arrest and criminal complaint against the person(s) responsible for this crime. The caller may remain anonymous. The call is not recorded. Call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477).

Tuesday’s City Council meeting began with a Fillmore Fire Fighter Foundation Proclamation presented to Scott Beylik, Mike Bush, Mike Richardson, Bill Morris and Scott Klittich for the generous contributions to Fillmore's Fire Department. But the main focus of the June 10, 2014 Fillmore City Council Meeting was Fillmore's Financial Director Gaylynn Brien presentation of a balanced FY 2014-2015 Budget. Revenue (money in) has not exceeded expenditures (money out) for number of years, so having a balanced budget is very good news. The Budget can be found on the City's website and at the Fillmore Library.

The next year Fillmore expects 36 new residential building permits and 8,320 square feet of non-residential development that will generate $182,729 in permit revenue with the current year estimates of 16 residential projects generating an additional $76,800. This is a projected increase of 138% or by almost $106,000. Property taxes have increased 1.69% adding an additional increase of $20,000.

The biggest increase came as a result of the sales tax sharing agreement; where businesses, that moved to Fillmore because of the agreement, share tax rebates from the Board of Equalization (BOE) with Fillmore. A long court dispute over who should receive the funds was resolved in last year in Fillmore's favor and the BOE has released $14 million in "back taxes" but is still holding $5.2 million of previous taxes and $1.4 million of this year’s taxes, leaving a total of $6.8 million withheld. Of that $6.8 million, Fillmore is expected to receive $1.3 million as its share, and $1.58 million as sales tax revenue on an ongoing basis.

Fillmore, like other CONTINUED »

At the June 10, 2014 Fillmore Unified School District (FUSD) Board Meeting the Board approved the contract for two new employees. One was a new Fillmore High School Principal and the other an Assistant Superintendent of Education Services. The Board gave recognition to three presenters: the Migrant Speech and Debate Team that represented Fillmore at the State Competition, the Migrant Student of the Year and the parents who participated in the English-As-A-Second Language Class.

Mr. Tom Ito has been hired as the new Fillmore High School (FHS) Principal. Ito has experience as a high school science teacher and high school associate principal having worked at Los Angeles Unified School District and Oxnard Union High School District. His most recently was as Associate Principal at Adolfo Camarillo High School. He has a total of 29 years of experience as a teacher, coach and administrator in a wide range of uniquely different comprehensive high schools.

The second hire is Martha Hernandez as Assistant Superintendent of Education Services. Hernandez has served as Director of Curriculum and Instruction for the Ventura County Office of Education and most recently on the state committee as Co-Chair of the English Language Arts/English Language Development Curriculum Framework and Evaluation Criteria Committee. She is bi-lingual with a resume that includes special education teacher, principal, Coordinator of Professional Development and Director of Curriculum and Instruction and the district level.

The FUSD Migrant Student of the Year is Jesus Mendoza. Mendoza has worked hard to achieve his goals and made this education a priority, he maintained a GPA of 3.8 in AP and Honor classes while also participating in extracurricular activities and sports. Jesus has received many awards including the Golden State Seal Merit Diploma and is a CSF Member. He has also been an active student of the Migrant Education Program. He has worked in the homework centers, Migrant Summer School office and participated in the Family Conference, Computer Camp, UCLA Leadership Institute and Speech and Debate Tournament where he had the honor of winning State Champion in 2013.

In his busy CONTINUED »

City of Fillmore

05/20/14
Search Warrant
300 Blk. A St.
400 Blk. Fillmore St.
300 Blk. St.
300 Blk. Saratoga St.
Vandalism
600 Blk. Shiells Dr.
Fight
500 Blk. Central Ave.
Battery
600 Blk. Ventura St.
05/21/14
Fight
900 Blk. Ventura St.
Threats
1100 Blk. Meadowlark Dr.
Disturbance Fireworks
400 Blk. Sespe Ave.
Found Property
1300 Blk. Ventura St.
Accident – Non Injury
A St./Ventura St.
Vandalism CONTINUED »

Ventura County Sheriff's Department

On 06/05/14 at about 10:35 A.M. a Fillmore resident was home when a burglar forced entry into the home and surprised her. The burglar was surprised himself to find the resident inside and fled the residence.

The events unfolded when an adult female resident (victim) living in the 1400 block of Cottonwood Ln. was home. The victim heard a knock on her front door. As she made her way to answer the door, she saw a stranger (suspect) walk into the hallway of her home. The victim was surprised and screamed. The suspect saw her and ran out of the house. He was last seen getting into a dark gray 4-door sedan with tinted windows. Nothing was stolen and nobody was injured in the incident. A subsequent investigation revealed the suspect entered the residence by forcing open a bedroom window.

The suspect is described as a light skinned male Hispanic in his early to late teens. The public is urged to contact the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office with any information related to this case.

Nature of Incident: Residential Burglary
Report Number: 14-12851
Location: 1400 Block Cottonwood Ln. Fillmore, Ca. 93015
Date & Time: 06/05/2014 @ Approximately 10:35 A.M.
Unit(s) Responsible: Patrol / Detectives
(S)uspects, (V)ictims, (P)arty, (D)ecedent City of Residence Age
(S) Unknown male Hispanic Unknown Unknown
Prepared by: Detective Taurino Almazan
Media Release Date: 06/06/2014
Follow-Up Contact: Detective Taurino Almazan @ (805) 524-2233
Approved by: Captain Mark Franke

Ventura County Crime Stoppers will pay up to $1,000 reward for information, which leads to the arrest and criminal complaint against the person(s) responsible for this crime. The caller may remain anonymous. The call is not recorded. Call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477).