Police Seek Gang Members in Oxnard Attack

Police are searching for gang members who reportedly caused a motorist to hit and seriously injure a 16-year-old Oxnard girl.

Monique Osuna, a junior at Hueneme High School, was listed Thursday in critical condition at St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard.

The girl, who is unconscious and using a respirator, is being treated for massive head injuries and a broken leg, Oxnard Police Det. Don Mulville said.

She was injured about 8 p.m. Monday when a car driven by Antonio Silva, 19, of Oxnard ran a red light at Ventura Road and Channel Islands Boulevard and struck her as she rode her skateboard through a crosswalk at the intersection, authorities said.

Silva, who was traveling about 50 mph, was fleeing gang members who had only minutes earlier smashed the rear window of his car with baseball bats at another intersection, authorities said.

Silva has not been cited.

“We understand why he was running,” Mulville said. “That really set his state of mind.”

The gang members who chased Silva could face charges in connection with Osuna’s injuries, police said.

Before striking Silva’s vehicle with baseball bats at Ventura Road, occupants of the car flashed gang signs and yelled at Silva and a friend who was driving with him.

Port Hueneme Police Sgt. Ken Dobbe said Sunkist Street residents who heard the glass shatter saw a late 1980s or early 1990s gray four-door sedan with tinted windows, possibly a Nissan Sentra, driving away from the scene. A window on the car was down and the occupants, described as four Hispanic males, were laughing, Dobbe said.

Police are also waiting for information from an employee of the city of Oxnard who was at the intersection and saw the altercation. Officials are urging other potential witnesses to notify either the Oxnard or Port Hueneme police departments.