THOUSAND OAKS : 8 Arrested in Foiled Retaliation Attempt

Five men and three teen-age boys were arrested outside a Thousand Oaks apartment complex and 20 weapons were confiscated in what police said Tuesday was a foiled attempt at retaliation.

The incident, which did not appear to involve gangs, occurred Monday evening at an apartment house in the 1900 block of Los Feliz Drive, Sheriff’s Lt. Bill Montijo said.

Responding to a call that what appeared to be a gang armed with guns and clubs was at the complex, arriving deputies stopped two cars leaving the scene and arrested eight of the occupants, Montijo said.

Several others fled on foot and escaped a search, he said.

The deputies recovered 20 miscellaneous weapons from the car but did not find any firearms, he said.

The weapons included wooden clubs, knives, baseball bats, metal pipes, a crowbar and martial arts weapons known as nunchakus .

Among those arrested on suspicion of conspiracy, possession of illegal weapons and possession of deadly weapons with intent to assault were two Newbury Park brothers, James Reed Jackson, 25, and Robert Allen Jackson, 21. Also arrested were James Lynn Howard, 20, of Thousand Oaks; Gregory Dee Sablick, 20, of Newbury Park, and Mason Michael Webb, 18, of Camarillo.

All five were scheduled to be arraigned today.

The names, ages and hometowns of the three boys were not released. They were arrested on the same charges as the men, the Sheriff’s Department said.

Montijo said an investigation showed that the incident followed a fight the night before between the Jackson brothers and residents of one of the apartments.

The men and juveniles who were arrested had apparently returned with the Jacksons and were intent on retaliation, Montijo said. But before any fight erupted, residents called police and the group attempted to flee, he said.

Detectives are still investigating the circumstances of the previous fight, he said.