Nightmare May Be Over on Elm Street : Oxnard: Police descend on suspected crack house in quiet, well-kept neighborhood. Residents, who had complained repeatedly, express relief.

A weekend drug raid at a suspected Oxnard crack house netted 12 arrests and brought strong support Sunday from residents of small, tidy Elm Street--where police say nighttime drug and gang activity had flourished in recent months.

Responding to numerous complaints that condemned the house at 461 Elm St. as a drug haven, 20 law officers served a search warrant at the location just after 8 p.m. Saturday.

“It was just a neighborhood nuisance,” said Oxnard Police Sgt. Chuck Hookstra, who supervises the city’s anti-gang unit. “We had received umpteen complaints about heavy traffic and gang and narcotic activity.”

When police burst into the residence, they found seven people smoking crack, or believed to already be high on the drug, inside a bedroom, Hookstra said.

“They were all wasted,” the sergeant said.

A 17-year-old girl and nine others were arrested on suspicion of being under the influence of a controlled substance.

Two people who rent the home--Valiant King, 34, and David Vargas, 44--were also booked on felony charges on suspicion of permitting the use of drugs in the home. King, Vargas and three of the suspected drug users were being held at the Ventura County Jail on Sunday evening.

The seven remaining suspects, including the girl, had been released either on bail or their own recognizance, police said.

During the raid, police seized two grams of cocaine and also found drug paraphernalia scattered throughout the house, which is suspected of being a gathering spot for members of an Oxnard gang, Hookstra said. None of the occupants resisted arrest, police said.

Neighbors, who have called police repeatedly about the suspected drug activity, said they were relieved to see the officers swoop down on the house. In addition to Oxnard police, county probation and state parole officers assisted in the raid.

“I can’t tell you how happy this makes me,” said one 46-year-old woman, who, like most others on the block, requested anonymity because of fear of retaliation.

“I grew so scared. Fighting. Cussing. People coming and going all hours of the night,” she said. “The only time it was quiet was during the day.”

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The woman said she has lived in constant fear over the past two months since King and Vargas moved in.

“I used to play in the back yard with my granddaughters during the evening, but as soon as 5 p.m. came around, I would call them in and lock the doors and windows,” she said.

By 6 p.m., she explained, the harassing commotion would start anew each night, just like clockwork.

“After that, here comes all the fancy cars and all the noise,” she said.

The house where the raid took place seems an unlikely target for a drug raid. It sits across from Elm Street Elementary School. The street is lined with smallish, older homes with manicured lawns. There is little evidence of graffiti in the neighborhood or other signs of urban decay.

But as a longtime Elm Street resident explained, “trouble, big trouble,” was beginning to make its presence felt in the past two months.

“This has been a real nice neighborhood to grow up in,” said the man, 30. “But it was beginning to change a lot.”

“I’m glad they’re gone,” he said, adding wistfully, “but I just hope the police can keep ‘em out.”