MOORPARK : Officer, Suspect Injured in Scuffle
A Moorpark man and a police officer suffered minor injuries early Friday morning when the officer tried to arrest one of the man’s friends, a Moorpark police spokesman said.
The man, Jaime Morales, 18, punched officer Randy Watkins as Watkins attempted to arrest a friend of Morales,’ Lt. Geoff Dean of the Moorpark Police Department said.
Watkins and seven other officers from the Thousand Oaks Police Department and the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department responded about 12:30 a.m. Friday to reports that a gang of more than 10 youths was breaking car windows near an apartment complex at Spring Drive and Roberts Avenue in Moorpark, Dean said.
Morales was arrested, but the other youths escaped, Dean said. After an hourlong search, police found and arrested two juveniles and cited three other teen-agers.
Morales was booked at Ventura County Jail on charges of battery against a police officer and resisting arrest. The two juveniles are in custody at Juvenile Hall. One was held on an outstanding warrant and the other was charged with battery on a police officer and resisting arrest.
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