Car Thief’s Getaway Soured by Lemon

Sometimes a lemon of a car can be a good thing.

Such was the case for Santa Paula resident Daniel Raymond Fleury, who was inside a local Unocal station paying for gas when a man tried to steal his 1981 yellow Toyota sedan.

Fleury, 21, had left his car parked and running next to a pump. His friend, Earl Williams, 19, of San Jose, was in the passenger’s seat listening to the radio when the crime occurred earlier this month.

Police say 20-year-old Fermin Nieves Medrano jumped in the driver’s seat and ordered Williams to get out. Williams complied, and the car thief started to drive off.

“It looks like it only moved approximately a foot” before the car stalled and died, said Santa Paula Police Cmdr. Mark Hansen.

Medrano abandoned the vehicle in the station’s parking lot and ran away, police said.

They arrested Medrano, also of Santa Paula, a few blocks away as he was walking down the street with two women.

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Police say a burglar has been hot on the prowl at a Port Hueneme retirement village.

During the course of a week in January, residents at a condominium complex on Hueneme Bay reported three burglaries, which police believe were committed by the same man.

In two of the cases, people were home at the time. The residents startled the burglar and he ran off.

In all three cases, the burglar entered through unlocked doors or sliding glass windows during the late afternoon or early evening.

The only thing stolen was a small amount of cash from a purse at one of the residences.

“He hasn’t hit for a while, so we are fortunate in that respect,” said Port Hueneme Police Cmdr. Fernando Estrella. “But we are continuing to investigate.”

As of Sunday night, there was no arrest in the cases.

Cops on foot and in squad cars are doing extra patrols. And residents convened recently for a meeting with police, during which they were advised to lock their windows and doors and keep an eye on their neighbors’ homes.

Unfortunately, none of the victims has been able to give authorities a good description of the burglar because of dim lighting inside the home when the crimes occurred, Estrella said.

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Can you spare 30 minutes to possibly save your child’s life?

The Ventura office of the California Highway Patrol hopes that it will be inundated Thursday by people willing to spend half an hour learning how to properly install child safety seats in their vehicles.

For the second consecutive year, the law enforcement agency is hosting the free service from noon to 2 p.m. as part of National Child Safety Week, said Officer Dave Webb.

Hundreds of children a year “die throughout the U.S. in crashes because a child safety seat wasn’t installed properly or the child wasn’t secured right,” Webb said.

Officers also will inspect child safety seats for defects and advise drivers whether the seat has been recalled by a manufacturer.

Webb said drivers should bring the seats and their kids.

It sounds like a worthy trip considering officials estimate that 90% of child safety seats installed by parents are installed improperly or adjusted incorrectly.

According to 1998 CHP statistics, the most recent available, 46 children in the state under the age of 4 died in traffic accidents. In 36 of those cases, a child safety seat was either not used or was used improperly.

One of those was a 2-year-old Ventura County boy who died June 19, 1998. He was riding in the front seat of a car being driven by his mom.

Officials said the youngster was not in a child safety seat--as required by law for children under 4 and weighing less than 40 pounds--and was wearing only the shoulder portion of a regular seat belt. The lap belt had not been fastened properly.

“When they’re not in a proper seat and restrained correctly they are just like a little missile inside the car during a crash,” Webb said.

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Holly Wolcott can be reached at 653-7581 or by e-mail at holly.wolcott@latimes.com.