Independent Probe Urged in Incident Involving Deputies

A Camarillo woman is demanding an independent investigation of two Ventura County sheriff’s deputies who she claims pointed a gun at one of her daughters, hit another daughter with a flashlight and uttered a racial slur to an African-American neighbor.

Jessie Roybal, 59, requested the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday to get an outside agency to investigate the officers’ behavior at the Park Glenn Apartments in Camarillo the evening of Sept. 2.

Sheriff Larry Carpenter said his department is conducting an internal investigation into the matter and has no objections to any further inquiry.

Roybal told the supervisors that two plainclothes deputies had come to the apartment complex where two of her daughters live to get information about a disturbance that occurred there earlier in the day.

But Roybal said that the officers did not identify themselves and that some residents believed that they were among those who had caused the disturbance.

She said her daughter, Letty Roybal, 38, grabbed a miniature baseball bat to protect herself when one of the officers drew a gun and pointed it at her head. She said her daughter quickly dropped the bat.

Jessie Roybal said the other deputy got into a scuffle with her other daughter, Donna Beck, 32, and hit her twice with a flashlight, causing some cuts and bruises. Roybal said one of the officers used a racially derogatory name to refer to an African-American woman who lived in the complex.

Carpenter said that his deputies undergo extensive training on dealing sensitively with minority groups and that he would be surprised if such an incident occurred.

But if it turns out that the incident did happen, Carpenter said, “I will take it very, very seriously and there will be appropriate discipline imposed.”

Supervisor Maggie Kildee on Tuesday asked Chief Administrator Lin Koester to look into the matter and report back to the board.