Latest news with #VenturaCountyDistrictAttorney'sOffice
Miami Herald
30-06-2025
- Miami Herald
Pastor stole $200,000 from church as its leader was ‘near death,' CA officials say
A pastor stole $200,000 from his church as its leader was dying and spent it on personal expenses, California prosecutors say. Now, Curtis Frank Lemons, 68, has been sentenced to two years in prison, the Ventura County District Attorney's Office said in a June 27 news release. In a June 30 email to McClatchy News, Lemons' attorney, Amber Gordon, declined to comment about his sentencing. While Lemons served as an assistant pastor with a Christian Baptist church in Oxnard, he wrote himself a cashier's check for $200,000 from the church's bank account in December 2020, prosecutors said. At the time, 'the patriarch of the Church was near death,' and the COVID-19 pandemic had started just months earlier, Senior Deputy District Attorney Howard Wise said in the release. Over the next four months, Lemons spent the money on personal expenses, 'including dental work, airline tickets, a vehicle, a new cell phone, and property in Tennessee,' prosecutors said. When Oxnard police detectives later spoke to Lemons about the church's missing funds, he said 'he gave the money to charity,' according to prosecutors. This, however, was determined to be untrue, prosecutors said. Lemons' sentence comes after he pleaded guilty to multiple counts, including grand theft and money laundering, prosecutors said. 'This is a sad case. Mr. Lemons stole from a vulnerable victim at a vulnerable time …' Wise said, adding that Lemons 'made a terrible decision but has accepted responsibility for his significant theft.' In addition to prison, 'Lemons was ordered to pay $200,000 in restitution to the church,' prosecutors said. Oxnard is about a 60-mile drive northwest from Los Angeles.
Miami Herald
18-06-2025
- Miami Herald
Beating of sea lion caught on camera, CA officials say. Now, man pleads guilty
A sick sea lion resting on a California beach was kicked in the head and beaten with a large piece of driftwood, prosecutors say. Now, 32-year-old Christopher Hurtado, of Santa Paula, has pleaded guilty 'to two felony counts related to the beating of a sea lion suffering on a Ventura beach from recent algae blooms,' the Ventura County District Attorney's Office said in a June 17 news release. McClatchy News was unable to immediately reach an attorney representing the man on June 18. 'Ventura County was outraged by the violence this defendant inflicted on a defenseless animal,' District Attorney Erik Nasarenko said in the release. 'The nature of this senseless attack shocked our conscience and called for aggressive prosecution.' As a woman was walking on the beach with her dog March 4, she spotted 'a sea lion stuck on the rocks in front of the Ventura Promenade' and called 911, prosecutors said. When dispatchers checked live footage from surveillance cameras near the Ventura Pier, they saw the man approach the sea lion and kick it in the head, prosecutors said. Hurtado sat on the rocks for a short time, then grabbed 'a four-foot piece of driftwood,' raised it above his head and hit the sea lion twice, prosecutors said. Officers arrived at the shoreline and detained him as he tried to run away, according to police, McClatchy News previously reported. 'Officers found .06 grams of methamphetamine in Hurtado's pants pocket,' prosecutors said. At the time of the attack, 'the sea lion was alive but suffering from domoic acid poisoning, a naturally occurring toxin in algae that can be harmful to marine mammals,' police said. The Channel Islands Marine & Wildlife Institute responded to keep an eye on the sea lion's condition, according to police. The nonprofit ended up caring for the sea lion at its center but later had to euthanize it due to its domoic acid poisoning, prosecutors said. Just before his trial was set to begin, Hurtado pleaded guilty to 'one count of cruelty to an animal and possession of a hard drug,' prosecutors said. In addition, he admitted to 'special allegations and aggravating factors,' which included having a prior strike and 'that the sea lion was vulnerable,' according to prosecutors. Hurtado, who is being held on $25,000 bail, is scheduled to appear in court July 14 for sentencing and faces three years in prison, prosecutors said. Ventura is about a 70-mile drive northwest from Los Angeles. What to know about domoic acid poisoning The sea lion's death came during an uptick in the number of sea lions suffering from domoic acid poisoning found along the Southern California coast, according to a Feb. 25 Facebook post from the Pacific Marine Mammal Center. Domoic acid is produced by the algae Pseudo-nitzschia australis, according to the Marine Mammal Center. 'When conditions are right, waters off the coast of California can experience large-scale toxic algal blooms that are capable of sickening hundreds of sea lions in a matter of weeks, causing them to wash ashore at an alarming rate – sometimes a dozen a day,' according to the Marine Mammal Care Center. Some symptoms of domoic acid poisoning are 'seizures, bobbing head, erratic behavior and lethargy,' the Marine Mammal Center says. With some domoic acid poisoning cases, the Channel Islands Marine & Wildlife Institute said it removes sea lions from the beach. In other cases, however, the organization leaves the sea lion on the beach to 'give the animal space and time to work through the acute phase of the toxin,' the organization said, adding that it continues to monitor the animal. The organization warned those who come into contact with a 'marine mammal in distress' to keep a distance of at least 50 feet.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Yahoo
Ventura police release details in 2023 homicide; suspect also charged in Ojai woman's death
The Ventura Police Department has released new details in a 2023 homicide, days after a suspect was arrested and charged in the case. The Ventura County District Attorney's Office charged Christian Alexandre Hillairet, 25, with two counts of murder on June 6. The charges stem from the recent killing of an Ojai woman and that of a Ventura man found dead in late 2023. The police department identified him as William Thompson, 46. This week the department said that authorities found Thompson's body on Nov. 5, 2023, near the railroad tracks in the 6600 block of Nightingale Street in Ventura. Officers had responded to a 911 call reporting a body near the tracks. The Ventura County Medical Examiner's Office later ruled his death a homicide. After what police described as a lengthy investigation, detectives obtained new evidence in the case when the sheriff's office arrested Hillairet in early June, according to a news release. Police did not provide details about the new evidence, saying doing so could jeopardize the case. Carolyn Nino De Rivera, 26, was found dead in a home in the Upper Ojai area on May 31. Investigators said they learned Hillairet, a suspect in the killing, had crossed the border into Mexico. With help from federal and Mexican authorities, he was arrested in Rosarito days later, officials said. He was booked into county jail on June 5. His arraignment on the murder charges has been continued and he has not yet entered a plea. The Ventura Police Department urged anyone with information about the Thompson case to contact the police at 805-650-8010. This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Ventura police release new details in 2023 homicide
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- Yahoo
Santa Paula man charged in slaying of Ojai woman, 2023 death of Ventura man
A Santa Paula man was charged with two counts of murder on June 6 in the recent killing of an Ojai-area woman as well as the death of a Ventura man in 2023. The Ventura County District Attorney's Office announced that Christian Alexandre Hillairet, 24, had been charged in Ventura County Superior Court with two counts of felony willful, deliberate and premediated murder, according to a DA's office news release. He has not yet entered a plea. Hillairet is also accused of numerous special allegations, including commission of more than one murder, use of a deadly weapon and a prior strike. Such allegations can carry additional jail time if he is found guilty. Hillairet is accused of killing Carolyn Nino De Rivera, 26, and William Thompson, 44. Nino De Rivera's body was found in a home in the 12000 block of Sisar Road in the unincorporated area of Santa Paula, also known as the Upper Ojai area, on May 31, authorities previously said. The home was leased by Hillairet and the two were in an "on-again-off-again" relationship, said Ventura County Sheriff's Capt. Rob Yoos. Ventura Police Department and sheriff's investigators said they found evidence tying Hillairet to the Ventura man's killing. Thompson was found bludgeoned to death in Ventura on Nov. 3, 2023, according to the DA's office news release. 'The defendant's alleged actions reflect a chilling pattern of violence and cruelty,' DA Erik Nasarenko said in the release. 'Our office is committed to securing justice for these victims and prosecuting Hillairet to the fullest extent of the law.' Hillairet was arrested by the Ventura County Sheriff's Office with the help of federal and Mexican authorities in Rosarito, Baja California, on June 4. Investigators earlier had learned that Hillairet had crossed the border into Mexico through the San Ysidro border crossing early June 1. He was booked into Ventura County Main Jail on June 5 without the possibility of bail, court and jail records show. He is scheduled to return to court June 9. Senior Deputy District Attorney Theresa Pollara with the DA's Major Crimes Homicide Unit is prosecuting the case. Ernesto Centeno Araujo covers breaking news for the Ventura County Star. He can be reached at ecentenoaraujo@ This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Santa Paula man charged in killings of Ojai woman, Ventura man
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Yahoo
Teens admit to bomb threat that locked down Ventura High School
A pair of California teenagers accused of calling in a bomb threat that forced the lockdown of roughly 2,000 students at Ventura High School last month have admitted to their involvement in separate hearings, officials announced Thursday. On Wednesday, one of the minors agreed to three felony charges, including malicious informing of a false bomb, conspiracy to commit a malicious informing of a false bomb, and criminal threats, the Ventura County District Attorney's Office announced in a news release. 'Ventura County Superior Court Judge Kevin DeNoce sentenced the minor to wardship under Welfare and Institutions Code section 602, the most serious level of juvenile probation,' the news release stated. The second minor, who is from Santa Barbara County, admitted to two felony charges, including malicious informing of a false bomb and conspiracy to commit a malicious informing of a false bomb during a May 21 hearing. That teen is scheduled to appear for an interim hearing on June 10 at the Santa Maria Juvenile Courthouse, as required by law, the news release states. Sentencing in the case is scheduled for June 17. The charges stem from the minors' involvement in a May 2 incident in which school officials received a threatening phone call claiming that someone was on campus with a bomb and intended to commit a shooting. The campus was immediately placed on lockdown as law enforcement was called to secure the campus and investigate. 'These threats placed the entire Ventura High School campus on lockdown, and caused students, teachers, and the surrounding community to be in fear,' Juvenile Unit Supervisor Maureen Byrne said. 'The juveniles who committed the false bomb threat and school shooting threat have been held accountable for their criminal conduct.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
