Women Jailed in 3 Robbery Cases

Two women have been arrested on suspicion of committing three armed robberies in less than eight hours in Oxnard, police said Wednesday.

Oxnard residents Jacqueline Chester, 37, and Jaime Callahan, 32, remained jailed Wednesday night, a sheriff’s deputy said. Chester was also being held on suspicion of using a controlled substance.

Each woman was being held in lieu of $50,000 bail and both were scheduled for arraignment today, the deputy said.

At 1 p.m. Tuesday, an Oxnard woman and her 7-year-old son were followed through a neighborhood in the 1500 block of Morris Street by three women in a green 1986 Chevrolet Blazer, Oxnard Police Cmdr. Mike Matlock said.

After a few minutes, two women in the Blazer walked up to the victims and shoved the woman’s son before pointing a knife at the woman’s stomach and stealing her purse, police said.

In a second robbery at 7:10 p.m. at a shopping center at 5th Street and Ventura Road, a woman was robbed as she sat in a parked car. Police said there was a brief struggle before the victim handed over her purse after seeing a possible weapon.

In the third holdup, a woman was robbed at 7:20 p.m. as she sat inside a parked car at Vineyard Avenue and Esplanade Drive.

The robber held a sharp metal object to the back of the victim’s neck during the robbery.

Police did not say if they are searching for a third suspect. Chester and Callahan were arrested about 10:45 p.m. Tuesday after a Port Hueneme police officer spotted their vehicle on Channel Islands Boulevard.