Last Motel Resident Evicted by Deputies

Ventura County sheriff’s deputies used a sledgehammer and crowbar Wednesday to evict the remaining ten

ant of the Lemon Tree Motel in Oxnard, clearing the way for the building’s demolition next week.

Teresa Melendi, 34, had refused to vacate the 45-unit motel that the city redevelopment agency seized under eminent domain in July after a protracted dispute with principal owner, Bertha Ochoa.

Oxnard police arrested Ochoa earlier Wednesday. As she was being led in handcuffs to a police car, she yelled that her civil rights were being violated.

“I’m going to jail for giving support to my last tenant,” said Ochoa, who disrupted an Oxnard City Council meeting Tuesday to protest the city’s takeover of her building.

The redevelopment agency seized the Meta Street property after repeated efforts to rid the motel of longstanding problems with prostitution, drugs and violent crime.

A relocation expert hired by the city found federally subsidized housing for about two-thirds of the residents.

An anticipated showdown with the holdout tenant did not occur.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Jim Moynagh shouted a vacate order through Melendi’s door and then ripped open an iron gate covering the doorway to her room.

Inside, Moynagh found a sofa, television, a greasy hot plate, stuffed animals, religious prints and other belongings. Melendi, however, was not inside.

Melendi returned a short time later for her purse and medicine. She was instructed to pick up her property at a later date from the redevelopment agency.

City officials said that the building would be secured in preparation for asbestos removal this week and that a 24-hour guard would be posted to keep out squatters.

Demolition is scheduled to begin Nov. 13, said Mecky Myers, the relocation specialist.

Ochoa, 44, was arrested on suspicion of disturbing the peace and released on her own recognizance, police said.

She is continuing to challenge the city’s $795,000 offer for the property, claiming that it is worth $2 million.