2 Men Arrested in Crime Spree Across 4 Cities

Two Oxnard gang members were arrested in a four-hour crime spree that stretched across four cities in western Ventura County and included two shootings, a carjacking and armed robbery, police from several agencies said Saturday.

The two suspects, along with a third man who eluded police, have been linked to shootings Friday in Santa Paula and Port Hueneme and a series of other crimes in those cities and in Oxnard and Ventura, Santa Paula Police Sgt. Ish Cordero said.

Michael John Soto, 18, and Eric Bernal, 20, remained in custody in Ventura County Jail Saturday night, each on $100,000 bail, authorities said. The third suspect was still being sought Saturday night.

Soto and Bernal were arrested in Santa Paula and jailed on suspicion of attempted kidnapping, robbery, carjacking, hit-and-run driving and evading arrest. Cordero said attempted murder charges would also be filed against the men.

Both shooting victims have been hospitalized and are expected to recover, authorities said.

Linda Williams, 45, of Port Hueneme was at St. John’s Hospital in Oxnard with multiple bullet wounds in her upper body and arm. A 19-year-old Santa Paula man, who police would not identify, was being treated for a chest wound at Santa Paula Hospital.

Authorities say the crimes began after a van was stolen about 7:30 p.m. Friday from a driveway in the 700 block of Pearson Road in Port Hueneme.

At 9:50 p.m., a vehicle matching the description of the van and carrying three men was used in a drive-by shooting in the 700 block of Santa Paula Street in Santa Paula, Port Hueneme Police Sgt. Ken Dobbe said.

The Santa Paula man was shot as he stood on a lawn with a friend, Cordero said. The victim told police a man in the van shouted several words, including “Oxnard,” and then fired at him with a sawed-off shotgun.

About 10:20 p.m. Friday, a van matching the same description was used in the armed robbery of a male Domino’s Pizza delivery driver at Citrus Drive and Wells Road in Ventura, Ventura police said. The victim had just delivered a pizza to a nearby apartment when he was robbed of $30 at gunpoint by three men. Authorities believe two of the robbers are the same men who were arrested.

About 20 minutes later Williams was wounded as she walked between condominium buildings in the 2500 block of Anchor Avenue in Port Hueneme, Dobbe said. Police believe the same three men had confronted Williams, one of whom, police said, fired at her several times with a small-caliber handgun.

Authorities said Williams ran to her apartment, where she called police before collapsing. Dobbe said Williams and Soto are acquaintances and may have had a disagreement over money.

“We’re looking into the relationship as a reason for the shooting,” Dobbe said.

Port Hueneme police believe either Soto or Bernal is the suspected shooter in the Williams case. The handgun has not been found.

Oxnard police believe the trio then left the Williams shooting scene and about 11:10 p.m. went to Yucca and G streets in Oxnard, where they abandoned the stolen van and robbed a man of his Honda Civic at gunpoint. Oxnard officers believe the men intended to kidnap the driver, whom police said the men did not know.

Authorities said the men stole the Civic, which was noticed by two sheriff’s deputies about 11:30 p.m. at Palm Avenue and Harvard Boulevard in Santa Paula.

A short, high-speed pursuit ensued, ending moments later when the Civic collided with a parked car in the 100 block of South Olive Street in Santa Paula, Cordero said. Soto and Bernal were captured and both treated at Ventura County Medical Center for minor cuts and bruises. A sawed-off shotgun was recovered in the Civic, police said.

Santa Paula officers and sheriff’s deputies searched several blocks for the third man, Cordero said.