Teen-Ager Accused of Brandishing Gun

A 17-year-old Thousand Oaks youth accused of brandishing a gun during a gang dispute at a Thousand Oaks high school remained in Juvenile Hall on Tuesday, police said.

“He’s in a street gang,” Ventura County Sheriff’s Sgt. Mike De Los Santos said. “He’s got an extensive juvenile record and has been arrested before for brandishing.”

Gang activity has decreased in the city since an October drive-by shooting, De Los Santos said. But he said police have recovered several guns since then, usually after incidents similar to Monday’s episode at Conejo Valley High School in Newbury Park.

“They steal the guns,” he said. “It’s not as easy as getting drugs, but if they want them, they get them.”

Police have not found the gun the youth was accused of brandishing Monday. Because of his age, De Los Santos would not release the teen-ager’s name.

De Los Santos said the youth was released from Juvenile Hall two weeks ago and returned to the continuation school about noon Monday to learn whether he was still enrolled in classes.

Officials at the school, which handles students who have had academic or disciplinary problems at other high schools, told the youth that he had been dropped from the school’s enrollment. As he left the campus, witnesses told police, he exchanged words with three teen-agers gathered in the parking lot, one of whom is an “associate of a rival local street gang,” De Los Santos said.

The 17-year-old flashed gang signs at the group before getting into a car and brandishing a small-caliber handgun, De Los Santos said. A school employee who saw the incident told police the name of the youth, who was then arrested after keeping an appointment later Monday with his probation officer.

Although ranked the nation’s second-safest city with more than 100,000 people, reports of gang activity in Thousand Oaks have increased enough that Mayor Jaime Zukowski mentioned the problem during her inaugural speech in December.

A massive gang sweep days after the drive-by shooting in October led to 15 arrests of suspected gang members, who were charged with an array of crimes. After that sweep, reports of gang activity decreased, De Los Santos said.

A month later, police arrested three youths in connection with a shooting that wounded a pregnant 34-year-old Newbury Park resident in the thigh.

Students interviewed on campus Tuesday greeted news of the arrest with a shrug of the shoulders.

“I agree gangs are a problem,” Zack Mathers, 17, said. “But it’s not like they’re some roving pack of wolves. They’re guys who are going to do this stuff anyway--but now they’re affiliated.”

Mathers also said he took exception to continuation schools being labeled as hotbeds of gang activity.

“Gangs are at every high school,” he said.