Video Leads to Arrest of 2 Teens in Shooting

Port Hueneme police investigators arrested two local teenagers believed to have been involved in a shooting and attempted robbery in early January.

The two youths--both 16 years old--are from Port Hueneme and Oxnard, said Lt. Fernando Estrella, a spokesman for the Port Hueneme Police Department.

The pair are accused of attacking two Port Hueneme men, Stephen Milewski, 34, and Andrew Schafter, 29, on Jan. 3 at the Trade Winds shopping center in the 800 block of North Ventura road.

In that incident, the youths allegedly pulled a small-caliber handgun and fired two or three shots, striking Schafter once in the arm. He was treated that night for his wound and released from the hospital.

The two suspects were identified after officers obtained a videotape from a liquor store near where the attack occurred that showed the two youths entering the store a few minutes before the shooting, Estrella said.

“It was a fluke,” he said. “We decided to check to see if maybe the two had entered the store at some time, and they had.”

The officers had a good description of the two from the victims, he said. Upon viewing the tape, several officers immediately recognized one of the youths and realized the pair matched the description given by witnesses.

The other youth was identified after the tape was shown to several probation officers and officers with the Oxnard Police Department.

The two were arrested Feb. 14 and are being held on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and attempted robbery, Estrella said.

They will probably undergo a fitness hearing before a Juvenile Court judge to determine if they should be tried as juveniles or as adults, he said.