COUNTYWIDE : Names of Suspects Held in Drive-by Shooting Released

Ventura police Monday released the names of three Fillmore men arrested with five juveniles in connection with a drive-by shooting that wounded a 17-year-old Santa Paula gang member.

Lorenzo Perez, 21; Benjamin Aparicio, 18; and Tony Cervantes, 18, were being held in Ventura County Jail on charges of attempted murder and conspiracy in what police called a gang-related shooting that occurred Sunday near Ventura’s North Bank Plaza shopping center.

Bail was set at $250,000 for each man. Arraignment is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. today.

Authorities also arrested one boy and four girls shortly after the 6:36 p.m. incident.

They were being held at Juvenile Hall, police said Monday.

Aparicio was driving his van south on Johnson Drive when he shouted a gang slogan at a Ventura man and two juveniles as they crossed North Bank Drive at Johnson, police said.

Aparicio then pulled out a handgun and fired several shots at the trio, wounding the 17-year-old Santa Paula youth in the right shoulder, police said. The victim was described by police as a gang member.

The youth was taken by ambulance to the Ventura County Medical Center in Ventura, where he was treated for a superficial wound and released Sunday night, a nursing supervisor said.

Meanwhile, witnesses copied the license plate number of Aparicio’s van and telephoned the Ventura Police Department.

About 30 minutes after the shooting, Santa Paula police said they stopped a van that matched the description and license number on California 126.

Officers found an automatic handgun and three spent cartridges in the van, and called Ventura police, who later arrested the three men and five juveniles, police said.