Man Killed in Fight at Ventura Restaurant

A 23-year-old Ventura man died Saturday after being shot in the head during a fight over a broken car window outside a crowded beachfront restaurant, police said.

Steven Dale Jenkins died about 7:15 a.m. at Ventura County Medical Center, Ventura Police Lt. Skip Young said.

Police arrested Jose Basillo Martinez Jr., 19, of Ventura on suspicion of shooting Jenkins Friday night during an argument with a group of patrons from Juro’ Cho’s Sushi outside the restaurant in the 1100 block of Seaward Avenue, Young said.

Martinez was being held Saturday in Ventura County Jail in lieu of $500,000 bail on charges of attempted murder. Young said police will ask the district attorney’s office to upgrade the charges to murder.

Young said a preliminary investigation revealed that Martinez has no prior criminal history so authorities are puzzled why a vandalism incident turned deadly.

The incident began about 9:30 p.m. when Martinez was confronted by patrons from Juro’ Cho’s and other south Seaward businesses complaining about his erratic driving and the Limp Bizkit music blaring from his 1990 Honda Accord.

During the confrontation a brick or a beer bottle was thrown at Martinez’s car, cracking the rear window, Young said.

Martinez, who had eaten at Duke’s Griddle ‘N Grill on south Seaward before the confrontation, left and returned about an hour later on foot with a 9-millimeter semiautomatic handgun, Young said. Police said Martinez went inside Juro’ Cho’s, loudly telling patrons he was looking for the vandals. Martinez then went outside, where he got into an argument with between three and 10 bar patrons, authorities said.

Martinez told police someone threw a punch at him, although authorities said there is no evidence of battery. Martinez fired a warning shot in the air, then allegedly shot Jenkins in the head from about 2 feet away, Young said.

Police don’t know if Jenkins and the others were the same people involved in the earlier argument with Martinez.

Martinez fled to a relative’s home in the Todd Ranch Condominium Complex in east Ventura, Young said. Authorities found him there about 10 to 15 minutes after the shooting and took him into custody, Young said.

Authorities said Martinez moved to Ventura about four months ago from Henderson, Nev. He was working at a department store and staying with his mother and stepfather at a motel in the 1000 block of Seaward Avenue, about a block from the shooting scene.

He had apparently parked his car at the motel before returning to the Japanese restaurant.

On Saturday, Jim Jenkins, 70, of Ventura grieved for the loss of his grandson--whom he and his wife raised from the time he was 3 months old.

“I feel like I lost a grandson and a son,” Jenkins said.

Steven Jenkins, a graduate of Buena High School, worked for Winchester Construction Co. in Santa Barbara and was set to begin taking courses at Ventura College on Jan. 10 in hopes of becoming a dentist, his grandfather said.