Woman Assaulted in Camarillo Home : Student Held in Attack on His Teacher

A 15-year-old Camarillo boy is being held on suspicion of attempted murder after he tried to strangle his high school English teacher in her home, police said.

The youth, whose name was withheld because of his age, is suspected of breaking into the home of Catherine Nichols, a Camarillo High School teacher, and attacking her with knotted shoelaces after she returned from school Wednesday afternoon, Ventura County Sheriff’s Sgt. Paul Oechsle said.

Sheriff’s deputies said the boy was in an upstairs room when Nichols returned home with a friend. When Nichols went upstairs, the boy, apparently unaware she was not alone, attacked her, deputies said. Her scream alerted her visitor, who ran to a neighbor’s house to summon help. The boy, wearing gloves and a ski mask, was apprehended when deputies arrived.

Nichols, 34, is listed in stable condition with bruises and minor injuries at Pleasant Valley Hospital, a spokeswoman said.

The boy told deputies he was trying to steal the keys to Nichols’ car so he could run away from home, Oechsle said.

The boy is being held in Ventura County Juvenile Hall pending a detention hearing today on charges of attempted murder and attempted burglary, Oechsle said.

Nichols has taught in the Oxnard Union High School District since 1974, a district personnel employee said. She also teaches history and reading, the employee said.