OXNARD : Mother’s Call Leads to Arrest of Son, 15

A phone call from the concerned mother of a 15-year-old gang member led to the arrest of the woman’s son in connection with a burglary of a snack bar at an Oxnard Little League field, authorities said Wednesday.

The boy, whose name was withheld, was booked on suspicion of burglary Tuesday and taken to Clifton Tatum Juvenile Hall, Oxnard Police Officer Ken Tougas said.

Oxnard Little League officials had reported the theft of $800 worth of candy, trophies, sound equipment and baseball memorabilia from the South Side Little League Park at 501 Johnson Road on Tuesday morning, Tougas said.

A call from a woman in the city’s north side provided police with their first clue in the case, Officer Don Boger said. “The mother broke that case open,” Boger said.

The unidentified woman called police Tuesday to report that her son was beyond the control of her and her husband. The teen-ager had refused to come home at times, instead staying with a grandmother on the west side of Oxnard. While trying to locate him, the mother had discovered suspicious property in a car that relatives said the teen-ager had been driving.

“She didn’t know where the goods were from but knew it was stolen property,” Boger said.

Officers tracked down the youth later in the day and arrested him in the theft, Boger said. Investigators say three other gang members may have been involved in the break-in.

Boger said the boy’s mother appeared to be very concerned about her son. “She decided she had to do something with him before it was too late,” Boger said.