3 Teens Arrested in Drive-By Shooting
Ventura County sheriff’s deputies have arrested three men in connection with a drive-by shooting in El Rio.
No one was injured in the Tuesday afternoon shooting, Det. Ralph Zermeno said.
Police arrested Salvador Morales, Donald Smith and Richard Valdivia, all 18-year-old El Rio residents, Zermeno said. Morales is believed to have fired the gun, officials said.
The incident began about 3:45 p.m. Tuesday in the 3000 block of Minna Street in El Rio when a wrench was thrown from one car at the windshield of another car driven by a 17-year-old boy.
“We don’t know what prompted it, but we believe they were aiming for him,” Zermeno said.
The juvenile raced his car to his house. After he went inside, the three men drove by and fired six shots into the car, Zermeno said.
Patrol officers spotted the suspects’ car a few blocks away and pulled them over. No weapon was found, Zermeno said.
The three suspects are all being held at the Ventura County Jail on suspicion of discharging a weapon from a moving vehicle and throwing an object from a moving vehicle. Morales’ bail was set at $50,000, and the other two men had their bail set at $20,000.
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