Deputies Probe Reported Threat to Merchant : Complaint: A Santa Paula store manager said a caller claiming ties to the KKK threatened to kill her if she sued a city official.

The Ventura County Sheriff’s Department confirmed Monday that it is investigating a complaint that a man claiming affiliation with the Ku Klux Klan threatened to kill a convenience store manager if she files a lawsuit against a Santa Paula official.

A sheriff’s spokesman said that Kim Valerie Owen, manager of Mick’s Newsstand in Santa Paula, told deputies that an anonymous man threatened her Sunday evening after calling the unlisted telephone number at her El Rio home near Oxnard.

According to a deputy’s report, the man allegedly told Owen: “I am a friend of the mayor. We are affiliated with the KKK. If you try to sue, you will be killed.”

Owen, whose aunt owns Mick’s Newsstand, has been embroiled in a liquor-license dispute with the Santa Paula City Council, especially Councilwoman and mayor pro tempore Kay Wilson.

Owen has threatened to sue Wilson and the council for alleged discrimination in refusing last Monday to issue Mick’s a wine and beer license, even though the city recently granted a liquor license to a market near an elementary school.

Wilson, a first-term council member and real estate broker, said Monday that she knew nothing of the alleged threats.

“This is absolutely the most incredible thing I’ve ever heard,” she said. “I didn’t even know the KKK existed in this area. I’m just flabbergasted. And now I feel scared, too.”

Last week, Wilson joined a 3-1 council majority in denying Mick’s liquor application.

Mick’s license was supported by 288 customers and residents who signed a petition. But Wilson opposed the license, she said, because nearby shop owners feel liquor sales would hurt their businesses. Wilson also publicly criticized Owen and her supporters for allegedly dressing poorly at the council meeting.

By Sunday, Wilson said, she had decided to apologize to Owen and left her home phone number at Mick’s. A friend of Owen’s responded with a call at 6 p.m.

“We had a real pleasant conversation,” Wilson said. “I felt I owed her an apology. I thought it was a pleasant way to handle an unpleasant situation.”

Owen, in an interview Monday, said that about 45 minutes after the conversation with Wilson a man “with a German accent” called and threatened her life.

A man called Mick’s and repeated the threat to employee Patricia Wilson, the clerk said Monday. “He said something about affiliation with the KKK,” said Patricia Wilson, who is Owen’s roommate. She filed a complaint with Santa Paula police, a spokesman confirmed. Owen called the sheriff.

Sheriff’s Lt. Gary Backman said that Owen’s complaint is being investigated. But he added: “It’s the kind of thing you really can’t even verify that it took place. You just have their word on it.”