Santa Paula Times, 959 1/2 Railroad Avenue, Santa Paula, CA (2026)

08/29/2026

BREAKING NEWS: AUG. 29 - SP MAN SHOT AT OXNARD EATERY BY WILD BULLET, 16-YEAR-OLD OXNARD JUVENILE ARRESTED

A 19-year-old Santa Paula man remains hospitalized in critical condition Saturday after he was shot inside an Oxnard eatery where he works, a bullet that Oxnard Police said was intended for someone outside.
Jonathan Vasquez Jr. was on his break at the Five Guys Burgers restaurant at the Collection when he was shot. Oxnard Police and EMS personnel received the report at about 8:26 p.m. and responded to the location, located in the 2700 block of Portico Way.
Investigators determined that Mr. Vasquez was not the intended target of the shooting and that a round was fired during an altercation that occurred outside of the business. The confrontation was between the 16-year-old suspect and two additional unidentified males.
Investigators from the Oxnard Police Department’s Violent Crimes Unit took over the investigation and gathered sufficient evidence to identify the suspect as a 16-year-old male, Oxnard resident. VCU Investigators obtained a search warrant for a residence in the 500 block of East First St.
Violent Crime Unit, Oxnard SWAT, and K9 Unit officers contacted and arrested the juvenile suspect as he left the residence. He was later booked into the Ventura County Juvenile Justice Center for attempted murder.
The motive for the initial altercation and subsequent shooting is unknown.
If you have any information regarding this case, contact Detective Diego Estrada at 805-385-8291 or by email at [email protected].

08/29/2026

BREAKING NEWS: MAN ARRESTED FOR SUSPICION OF MOLESTING 7-YEAR-OLD

A Santa Paula visitor allegedly mo**sted a child and Santa Paula Police there may be more victims.
According to a news release by Police Chief Don Aguilar, on August 22, SPPD patrol officers and detectives responded to a report of a child mo**st incident. Through investigation, it was determined a 7-year-old female victim was mo**sted by a family member earlier in the day. Detectives continued the investigation and later arrested David Salvador, age 63, for child mo**st offenses. Salvador was visiting from out of the country.
He was booked into Ventura County Jail and his bail was set at $1,000,000.
On August 25, Salvador was arraigned at Ventura County Superior Court on charges filed by the District Attorney’s Office. The charges included lewd acts with a child, unlawful acts with a child victim under age 10, and burglary.
Bail status was updated and Salvador is now being held without bail.
There may be additional victims. Anyone with information about this incident or others who may have been victimized by David Salvador are urged to contact Detective Yvette Solis 805-826-7512 or [email protected].

08/28/2026

BREAKING NEWS AUG. 28: SP MAN ARRESTED ON MURDER CHARGE AFTER WOMEN HE ALLEGEDLY ATTACKED DIES

Man arrested for murder after woman he allegedly attacked succumbs to her injuries

By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula Times

An alleged attempted murder is now a homicide after the woman viciously attacked on East Telegraph Road on Aug. 20 succumbed to her injuries Wednesday.
According to Santa Paula Police Chief Don Aguilar, Mary Mueller, 65, died on the morning of Aug. 26 in a Ventura-area hospital. She had been hospitalized in critical condition after being attacked with a blunt instrument at about 10:55 a.m. on Aug. 20. The suspect is 35-year-old Christopher Kaela Lample, who lived in Hawaii and in an RV on the woman’s residential property in the 18000 block of East Telegraph Road. Also known as Mary Lample, the woman was reportedly Lample’s mother.
According to Police Chief Don Aguilar, on Aug. 20, at about 10:55 a.m., the SPPD received a call of an adult female with a head injury; patrol officers arrived in less than two minutes and discovered Ms. Mueller outside at the location.
The suspect had driven away from the scene, but with the aid of automated license plate readers, Lample was located in Goleta around 12:15 p.m. He was taken into custody by Santa Barbara
County Sheriff's deputies who had picked up an alert about Lample's vehicle and pulled him
over when his car was spotted, according to a SPPD news release.
Santa Paula Police detectives took custody of Lample from the sheriff’s deputies and returned to Santa Paula.
Aguilar said, “It is believed Lample was intending on using nearby air travel [Santa Barbara Airport] or other transportation to flee the area and avoid arrest.”
Lample, who was booked into Ventura County Jail with bail set at $2,000,000, appeared in court Monday, Aug. 24, where he was initially charged with suspicion of attempted murder, two counts of domestic violence, use of a deadly weapon, crime involving great violence, and assault with a deadly weapon, all felonies. Lample was arrested in jail on the murder charge; bail remains $2,000,000.
Lample’s initial arraignment had been continued to Sept. 21, 1:30 p.m. in court room 37 and court records Thursday did not yet reflect a court appearance on the murder charge.
The investigation is continuing.
Anyone who has any information about this incident is urged to contact Detective Mario Escalante 805-826-2930 or [email protected].

08/28/2026

BREAKING NEWS: AUG. 27

Demonstrators want answers on fate of local dogs sent to Miranda’s Shelter

Demonstrators were out on Saturday, Aug. 22, asking for information about dogs sent by Santa Paula Animal Rescue Center to Miranda’s Rescue in Fortuna, whose owner is being investigated after the bodies of 117 dogs — and remains of an unknown number of others — were found buried on the premises. Officials have confirmed that about 100 dogs were adopted out from the which Miranda’s claimed is a no-kill shelter, but there is no record for the approximately 713 dogs unaccounted for the last year alone.
Although the case was officially opened in late June, the investigation is continuing and no charges have been filed against shelter owner Shannon Miranda, who continues to house about 50 dogs on the property.
Humboldt County Sheriff William Honsal said investigators have asked those involved in the investigation not to comment on the issue, including SPARC, although a handful of the shelters that utilized Miranda’s have spoken out. It is estimated that Miranda’s received animals from scores of California shelters that paid $500 and up for the relocation of dogs.
Oxnard resident Maxine Garcia (far right in photo, kneeling), a former SPARC employee and volunteer, and friends want to know what happened to animals that may have been transferred to Miranda’s.
“We’re not saying that SPARC knew this would happen,” said Garcia, but she remains troubled — and suffers guilt — that animals she and others cared could have been transferred to Miranda’s.
“None of us who worked or volunteered there knew this was going to happen,” she added, but now they would like to know the status of SPARC dogs that were transferred.
The Humboldt Sheriff’s Office search was carried out with assistance from several other state and federal agencies, including the California Department of Justice, the FBI and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The investigation is continuing.

08/27/2026

YEE-HAW! Get on your dancing boots for FREE Line Dancing Lessons at Santa Paula Sports Creek Park, 301 Harvest Loop, Santa Paula, where you'll learn all the right Western moves on Sept. 5th! Then you can trot them out for the Sept. 26th Take Me Home Country Roads Car Rally and Western Bandana Dance benefiting Santa Paula Rotary! YEE-HAW indeed!

08/27/2026

BREAKING NEWS AUG. 27: SP MAN ARRESTED FOR SUSPICION OF SEVERE RIVERBED ASSAULT

Santa Paula Police and the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office worked together to capture a suspect Wednesday who allegedly beat another man Tuesday at the Santa Clara Riverbed, near the 12th Street bridge, inflicting severe injures.
On Aug. 26, 26-year-old Santa Paula resident, Cyriss Castillo was arrested for assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury.
According to a VCSO news release, on Aug. 25, at about 11:47 p.m., patrol deputies from the Sheriff’s Fillmore Station responded to the Santa Clara Riverbed near the 12th Street bridge in unincorporated Santa Paula in reference to an assault which had just occurred. As deputies arrived, they contacted adult witnesses who led them into the riverbed to an adult male suffering from multiple injuries, including head trauma. The victim was transported via ambulance to a local hospital and treated for his injuries.
As the investigation unfolded, deputies identified Castillo as the suspect who had fled the area prior to law enforcement arrival. Patrol deputies, with the assistance of Santa Paula Police officers searched the area but did not find Castillo.
On Wednesday, Aug. 26, SPPD officers located and detained Castillo pursuant to the VCSO investigation. Detectives from the Fillmore Detective Unit coordinated with Santa Paula Police, responded to Santa Paula and continued the investigation. As a result, they obtained evidence linking Castillo to the assault. Castillo was subsequently arrested for suspicion of assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury.
Castillo was transported to the Sheriff’s Pre-Trial Detention Facility where he was booked pending court proceedings.
(Se incluye la traducción al español)

08/26/2026

BREAKING NEWS AUG. 26: Ojai man charged with child mo**station against multiple victims

Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko announced today that David Johnson, 58, of Ojai, has been charged with six felony counts of child mo**station against multiple victims. He faces four counts of lewd acts upon a child and two counts of continuous sexual abuse along with the special allegations of substantial sexual conduct and the victims being under 14 years old. Johnson was arraigned in Ventura County Superior Court and pled not guilty to all charges.
Johnson, who worked as both a pastor and massage therapist, is accused of mo**sting two
children under the age of 14. The abuse is alleged to have happened over several years at
locations in Ojai and Oxnard. He had access to the children through a familial relationship.
Investigators suspect there could be additional victims. If you believe you have information about this case or possible other unreported crimes Johnson may have committed, please contact
Ventura County Sheriff’s Office Detective Michael Loth at 805-384-4745.
Deputy District Attorney Cesar Ponce, a member of the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office Sexual Assault Unit, is prosecuting the case.
Johnson remains in custody without bail. A bail review hearing is scheduled for August 28.
(Se incluye la traducción al español)

08/26/2026

BREAKING NEWS: AUGUST 26 - Port Hueneme man pleads guilty to murder for targeting bicyclists with vehicle

A Port Hueneme man pled guilty Tuesday to second-degree murder related to an April 2021 incident when he deliberately struck a group of bicyclists, leaving one dead.
In a press release, District Attorney Erik Nasarenko said Samuel Matthew Rocha, 33, pled guilty on August 24 to second-degree murder in the death of Pedro Valdez. Rocha had previously been convicted by a jury in April of four counts of assault with a deadly weapon, and two counts of battery. The jury was unable to reach verdicts on the remaining counts. The jury found the special allegation of causing great bodily injury in commission of a felony to be true. Now, four months later, Rocha pled guilty to murder and admitted to using his Lexus sedan as a deadly weapon.
On the evening of April 19, 2021, Rocha used his vehicle to target a group of seven bike riders who were pedaling near the intersection of Pleasant Valley Road and Ventura Road in Port
Hueneme. Rocha stuck five of the bicyclists, killing 16-year-old Pedro Valdez and injuring four other minors. Two had serious injuries. Rocha fled the scene in his Lexus sedan. He was followed by a witness to his mother’s apartment complex nearby. He was then arrested by a Port Hueneme Police Department officer who arrived at the complex.
Just 11 minutes prior to hitting the teenagers, Rocha had battered a male and female at a laundromat and intentionally stuck an employee with his vehicle as he was leaving the parking lot.
The parking lot incident was captured on surveillance video.
Senior Deputy District Attorneys Richard Simon and Craig Gardner prosecuted the case.
“Rocha made the deliberate decision to use his vehicle as a weapon, killing 16-year-old Pedro Valdez and injuring four other young bicyclists,” Simon said. “This conviction holds him
accountable and brings a measure of justice to Pedro, his family, and the other victims.”
Rocha is scheduled to be sentenced on October 27, at 9 a.m. in courtroom 12 of the
Ventura County Superior Court. He remains in custody without bail and faces a maximum of 27 years to life in state prison.

08/26/2026

BREAKING NEWS: AUG. 26 - PEDESTRIAN KILLED ON 101 NEAR WEST MAIN
On August 25, at approximately 6:31 p.m., the Ventura Communication Center began receiving calls of a crash on US-101 southbound near West Main Street, involving a vehicle and a pedestrian. CHP, Ventura County Fire Department, and an ambulance responded to the scene.
Upon further investigation, it was determined a 47-year-old male from Thousand Oaks was driving a Ford F-250 on US-101 southbound, and 67-year-old male from Oxnard was standing on the right shoulder. For reasons still under investigation, the 67-year-old male walked into traffic lanes where the Ford subsequently crashed into him. As a result of the crash, the 67-
year-old male pedestrian was pronounced deceased at the scene.
It is unknown if alcohol and/or drugs were a factor in the crash.
Anyone with potential helpful information is asked to call the CHP Ventura area office at 805-662-2640.
The mission of the California Highway Patrol is to provide the highest level of safety, service and security.
(Se incluye la traducción al español)

08/24/2026

BREAKING NEWS - AUG. 24: IT'S HOT & THE CITY OF SP OPENS COOLING CENTER
City of Santa Paula Opens Cooling Center Amid High Temperatures
Santa Paula, CA – With temperatures expected to reach 90 degrees or higher for several
consecutive days this week, the City of Santa Paula will open a cooling center at the Santa
Paula Community Center to provide residents with a place to find relief from the heat.
The cooling center will be located in the front lobby of the Santa Paula Community Center,
530 W. Main St., Santa Paula, and will be available Monday through Friday from 10:00
a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Residents using the cooling center will have access to:
• Air conditioning
• Free Wi-Fi
• Restrooms
• Drinking water
Visitors will be asked to sign in upon arrival.
Residents are encouraged to take precautions during periods of extreme heat, including
staying hydrated, limiting strenuous outdoor activity during the hottest parts of the day, and
checking on family members, neighbors, older adults, and others who may be especially
vulnerable to heat-related illness.
The City will continue to monitor weather conditions and provide additional information as
needed on spcity.org.
Traducción al español en los comentarios.

Santa Paula Times

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