OXNARD : Police Arrest Suspect in Robbery-Slaying

Working on a tip from Stockton police, Oxnard detectives arrested a Stockton man Monday on suspicion of robbing and killing another man in Stockton, a police spokesman said.

Anthony Dean is suspected in the shooting death of 20-year-old Jeffery Schripsema, a truck driver, police said. Schripsema was shot and killed a year ago while walking from a Stockton liquor store to his truck, said Lt. Mel Greer of the Stockton Police Department.

Greer said Schripsema had just cashed his paycheck and was carrying $700 in his wallet when he was robbed. He was found dead, lying face down beside his truck with the wallet and money gone, Greer said. Witnesses identified Dean as the man who fired the shots that killed him, Greer said.

Dean was arrested in Oxnard after police were tipped that he was in the area, said Oxnard detective Steve Vendt. “There really was nothing to it,” Vendt said. “We got his picture. We went down to where he was reportedly seen, and he was there, so we arrested him.”

Dean could face the death penalty because the homicide was committed during a robbery, Greer said.

Schripsema’s mother said Monday that she hoped Dean would be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

“He killed my son for his wallet,” Pam Schripsema said. “Jeff was just getting it together. He just got married, and had just been hired on full-time. He was the nicest boy. I don’t know how we’ll go on without him. We haven’t stop needing him.”

Dean was taken to Ventura County Jail, where he is awaiting transfer to Stockton, Vendt said.