Ventura County Sheriff's Department

Suspects, Residence, Age:
Omar Ivan Cervantes, Oxnard, 18 years
Juan Elvis Larios, Oxnard, 18 years
Juan Manuel Perez Jr., Oxnard, 19 years
Raymond Reyes, Oxnard, 18 years
Braulio Velasco, Oxnard, 18 years
4 Male Juveniles, Oxnard, 16 years

On January 6, 2008, Arturo Sotelo was walking on Friedrich Road in Nyeland Acres at about 2115 hours. As Sotelo continued to his destination, a male suspect, who was wearing dark clothing, approached him. The suspect yelled “Colonia!” and shot Sotelo several times in the head with a .25 caliber handgun. Sotelo, who survived, was taken to Saint John’s Regional Medical Center for treatment of his wounds.

On February 17, 2008, unknown suspects committed a drive-by shooting on Dolores Court in the City of Oxnard. The intended targets of the shooting were Colonia gang members. Shortly after the shooting in Oxnard, investigators learned that several Colonia gang members were planning to retaliate for the shooting on Dolores Court by driving to El Rio to hunt for a rival gang member.

Deputies in El Rio, who had been alerted by department investigators, located and stopped the car the gang members were riding in and recovered a 9mm handgun, a .45 caliber handgun and a shotgun. The four gang members in the car were arrested and later released pending further investigation.

On June 5, 2008, after an extensive investigation, investigators from the Sheriff’s Major Crimes Bureau and Sheriff’s Gang Units arrested Omar Ivan Cervantes, Juan Manuel Perez Jr. and a male juvenile for the attempted murder of Arturo Sotelo. Juan Elvis Larios was arrested for a weapons charge related to this case. Cervantes, Larios, Perez and the male juvenile were also booked under the "California Street Terrorism Enforcement and Prevention Act" for their participation in a gang related crime.

The male juvenile mentioned above was arrested while attending school at the Camarillo airport. As deputies drove up to the front of the school, a friend of the suspect’s alerted him to the presence of the police by way of a text message on the suspect’s cell phone. The juvenile attempted to elude arrest by running away from the campus. An alert teacher saw the student running away and that information was relayed to the deputies. A containment perimeter was quickly established and a Sheriff’s Department helicopter was deployed. After a brief search of the area, the suspect was found hiding in the bathroom of a restaurant located on the airport grounds.

Investigators also arrested Raymond Reyes, Braulio Velasco and three male juveniles for conspiracy and various weapons possession charges related to the arrests on February 17, 2008.

All nine Colonia gang members were arrested without incident. The adults were booked in the Sheriff’s Pre-Trail Detention Facility and the juveniles were booked at the Juvenile Justice Center on Vineyard Road in El Rio.