Officials Not Soiled by Ojai Trash Stickup

A former Ojai planning commissioner, who was robbed of a bag of trash outside his home last month, was not the target of a plot by any city official or government employee, the Ventura County district attorney’s office has concluded.

Jerome Landfield, a 53-year-old architect ousted from the Planning Commission in November, called police after he was allegedly assaulted while trying to stop the predawn thief. Puzzled as to why anyone would want to steal his garbage, Landfield, an outspoken critic of numerous development plans in Ojai, speculated that the trail of trash may have led to City Hall.

But investigators have found no evidence of any city involvement, the district attorney’s office said. Instead, Landfield said, investigators told him that the suspected thief was hired by a former client who was seeking to check his assets in preparation for a lawsuit.

“That’s a surprise to me,” Landfield said. “I didn’t even realize there was a dispute.”