VENTURA : 8 Youths Arrested in Drive-By Case

Ventura police on Sunday night arrested eight Fillmore teen-agers--four males and four females--who were riding in a van that officers suspect was involved in a drive-by shooting in Ventura that injured a 17-year-old Santa Paula youth.

The unidentified victim was hit once in the upper back in what police are calling a possible gang-related shooting near Ventura’s North Bank Plaza shopping center. The youth was treated for a superficial wound and released Sunday night from the Ventura County Medical Center, a nursing supervisor said.

The victim and two other youths were walking across Johnson Drive just east of North Bank Drive when several shots were fired from a white van about 6:30 p.m., Sgt. Gary Moore said. Witnesses, who told police that the van had circled the area several times, provided officers with the van’s license plate number.

About 30 minutes after the shooting, Santa Paula police stopped a van on California 126 that matched the description and license number broadcast over police radio, Santa Paula Police Sgt. Mark Trimbel said. Officers found an automatic handgun and three spent cartridges in the van and then called Ventura police, who later arrested the eight youths, Trimbel said.

Police had no names or other specifics to release Sunday night.