‘It Was Just Darn Good Detective Work’

A sergeant at one of Ventura County’s smallest and most understaffed law enforcement agencies is responsible for having hunted down the prime suspect in the stabbing death of 17-year-old Jesse Strobel.

Strobel, a Ventura High School student, was killed Jan. 29, 1993, as he was walking home from his father’s Pierpont pizzeria.

The case remained unsolved for more than six years until Santa Paula Police Sgt. Carlos Juarez got involved.

Juarez, a 12-year veteran of the department, supervises the four officers who make up the detective division. He has handled hundreds of criminal cases but few homicides.

But a storekeeper in Santa Paula was gunned down last June--the fourth killing in that city in a six-month period--and detectives were too swamped to handle it. Juarez took it instead, and that led to a major break in the Strobel case.

Last August, Juarez received a phone call from a man who gave the sergeant information about someone who might have been involved in both killings.

The sergeant said he met the informant, who had details about both slayings, but was unwilling to help.

In December, the informant again contacted Juarez and said he would assist in the investigation. The informant wore a wire, and officers from Santa Paula and Ventura set up a surveillance operation.

An arrest was made this month.

Santa Paula resident Jose Castillo, 21, remains in jail on suspicion of fatally stabbing Strobel.

Because he was 15 at the time Strobel was killed, Castillo will be tried as a juvenile.

Prosecutors are not expected to file charges against Castillo in the case of the storekeeper’s death until after Castillo is tried in juvenile court.

Juarez refused to take sole credit, calling the case a team effort. His boss, though, was impressed.

“It was just darn good detective work,” said Santa Paula Police Cmdr. Bob Gonzales, who will become the city’s new police chief.

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It sounded like a plan to cut in on dance partners, but the aim of the “Shoulder Tap Sting” was the serious social and legal issue of underage drinking.

Ventura police officers went out earlier this month to find adults who would buy alcohol for a young man and woman, both 19, who volunteered to be decoys.

Of 40 people approached at eight local liquor shops, three different men bought six-packs of beer for the decoys.

“What we found is that the people we arrested are on probation or have a criminal history. It’s not ‘Mr. and Mrs. Next Door Neighbor’ doing this, it’s the criminal element,” said Ventura Police Cpl. David Wilson.

The operation was the first of its kind in Ventura. Most alcohol stings involve sending underage decoys into businesses to buy liquor themselves.

While the operation was modeled after a Santa Barbara program, it’s interesting to note that right before the sting occurred, officers did receive a complaint from a boy who said his friend drank alcohol before causing a traffic collision that resulted in injuries.

The friend who crashed had found a stranger to buy liquor for him.

“There are a lot more dangers than just the purchase of the alcohol,” Wilson noted.

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In 1975, Simi Valley had more than 2,000 reports of burglaries. Last year, the number was about 400. It’s no wonder that Simi, along with neighboring Thousand Oaks, consistently shows up on lists of the nation’s safest cities.

How does the city account for such stats? Crime prevention through environmental design, said Simi Valley Police Sgt. Bob Gardner.

Huh?

That means that Simi (and Thousand Oaks, too) has adopted home-security ordinances that are tough on burglars.

In the 1970s, the city was one of the first in the county to adopt ordinances about doors, windows, locks and lights. Police officers here also conduct inspections and sign off on certificates of occupancy.

For example, exterior doors must be made from solid materials, such as metal or wood, and sliding windows must have at least two locking devices.

Address numbers must be at least 4 inches tall, but shrubs cannot be at eye level--between 4 and 6 feet. They must be higher or lower.

Or as Chief Randy Adams noted: “We try to create an environment where if you are going to engage in criminal activity, you will know you need to go somewhere else.”

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File this one under “Easy come, easy go.”

Moorpark resident Efrain Frias walked into his city’s sheriff’s station a couple of weeks ago to find out why his photograph had been published in local newspapers.

A few minutes later, the 27-year-old was in handcuffs.

Frias, who speaks only Spanish, recognized his mug, but didn’t understand that the English words accompanying the picture said “wanted fugitive.”

Authorities had issued a warrant for his arrest for allegedly possessing drugs for sale, giving false information to police officers and driving without a license.

Deputy Julie Smith was at the station when the arrest occurred.

“I was standing there and he had this shocked look on his face like, ‘What’s going on here?’ ” Smith said. “And there was this other Spanish-speaking guy in the lobby who I think was telling him, ‘What were you thinking?’ ”

Deputy Mario Aguilar, who acted as an interpreter and made the arrest, said he hopes other suspects will follow Frias’ lead.

“I came back after checking the computer and just let him know he won himself a trip to jail,” Aguilar said. “This makes my job a lot easier.”

Holly Wolcott can be reached by e-mail at holly.wolcott@latimes.com.