FBI to Probe 2 Ventura Crimes That May Be Racially Motivated

The FBI will investigate two separate crimes committed this week in the same mid-town neighborhood that are believed to be racially motivated, authorities said Thursday.

The FBI has requested copies of local police reports in connection with the incidents, which in one case involved two African American victims and in the other involved a woman whose parents are African American and white, said Special Agent Kevin Kelly, acting supervisor of the agency’s Ventura County office.

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In the first instance, the outline of a cross was burned into a front lawn, and in the second, a gray BMW was defaced with a racial slur.

Federal officers will investigate whether the destruction of property was done in either case because of the victims’ religion, beliefs or national origin, an element in charging a civil rights violation, Kelly said.

Ventura police detectives, meanwhile, are searching for a connection between the cases but have no physical evidence of a link so far, Lt. Carl Handy said.

“We are clearly looking to see if they are related,” Handy said. “It would be a remarkable coincidence if they weren’t.”

As of Thursday night, there had been no arrests.

“This kind of stuff is abhorrent for any community, particularly one like Ventura,” Handy said. “Ventura is ‘middle America’ and this type of behavior shouldn’t be happening. The person or persons who committed this better pray we don’t find out who they are.”

In the most recent incident, a patrol officer found the damaged BMW about 5:30 a.m. Wednesday on San Clemente Avenue. White paint had been poured over the entire vehicle and a slur had been written across the driver’s-side door, Handy said.

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The owner of the car, a 24-year-old woman whose name was not released, told police her father is black and her mother white, authorities said.

About three blocks away on Jordan Avenue near Ventura High School, two black men who are roommates came home about 9:30 a.m. last Sunday to find a 3-foot cross pattern burned into their front lawn.