Suspect in Attacks on 2 Women Sought

Police and sheriff’s deputies continue their search for a man armed with a knife and handgun who attacked two women after forcibly entering their Silver Strand Beach homes Sunday night.

Ventura County sheriff’s deputies responded to a call of a disturbance involving weapons about 9:30 p.m. in the 300 block of Melrose Avenue, near the south side of the Oxnard Harbor inlet.

Officers were told that an adult white male had entered the home of 40-year-old Susan Chaney Stevens and threatened her with a knife.

The suspect forced Stevens to accompany him outside, allegedly to make a telephone call regarding a debt he said he was owed. Stevens eventually broke free without injuries, and the suspect entered the open garage of nearby resident Julie Satz, 31.

The suspect confronted and attacked Satz in front of witnesses, dragging her out of the garage and into her driveway before hitting her in the face and slamming her head into the concrete. He then held a handgun to her head while threatening to cut her throat with the knife. Soon after, he left.

After the attack, while witnesses called the Sheriff’s Department, the suspect allegedly ran to a home in the 3000 block of Panama Drive. A perimeter was set up around the residence and members of the SWAT team were allowed to enter and search for the suspect by the home’s owner.

A friend drove Satz to Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura with unknown injuries. She was treated and released.

The suspect was not located and his identity and whereabouts remained unknown to sheriff’s investigators Monday night.