Oxnard Trustee Arrested in Drug Case

An elementary school board member has been arrested on suspicion of possessing drugs for sale, less than a year after being convicted for battering his wife.

Ray Gonzales, 42, was arrested and booked Wednesday night on suspicion of possession of methamphetamine for sale and transport. Gonzales appeared to be involved in a drug sale at Channel Islands Boulevard and Ventura Road at about 7:30 p.m., according to Oxnard Police Det. Dennis McMaster.

The Oxnard Elementary School District trustee was initially arrested on an outstanding misdemeanor warrant for violating probation, authorities said. But then officers searched his car and found about 4 1/2 grams of methamphetamine, McMaster said.

Officers arrested a second man in the alleged drug transaction. He was identified as Darryl Edwin Warren, 32, of Los Angeles, who was arrested on suspicion of possession for sale and transport of methamphetamine. Warren had several grams of the drug in his vehicle and a large amount of cash, police said.

Gonzales remained jailed on $55,000 bail. He is scheduled to appear in court today. Warren, whose bail was posted, will very likely appear in court next week, according to jail officials.

The drug arrest is the latest blow to Gonzales, a former Oxnard planning commissioner.

In August Gonzales was fired as director of the county-run La Colonia CalWORKS center for what his superiors said was poor job performance. The next month he was found guilty of misdemeanor spousal battery. A Ventura County Superior Court jury concluded he had shoved his wife into a broken glass window during a domestic dispute earlier in the year.

Gonzales avoided a jail sentence, but was placed on three years’ probation and ordered to attend domestic violence counseling for a year.

On Thursday, Oxnard Police Chief Art Lopez said it’s unfortunate that Gonzales allegedly put himself in a situation that would lead to an arrest.

“It seems like he has a run of bad luck, or bad decisions,” Lopez said.

Gonzales was considered a community hero for saving the life of Oxnard Mayor Manuel Lopez’s wife during a 1993 shooting at the Oxnard unemployment office. He served as a city planning commissioner in 1997 and 1998 before he was elected to the elementary school board.

Supt. Richard Duarte said he was conferring with the school district’s attorney on what action could be taken regarding Gonzales, but said he believed it would take a felony conviction to remove him from his board post.

After an emergency board meeting Thursday to discuss the issue, Duarte said he hoped the drug arrest would prompt Gonzales to resign.

“This reflects negatively on the district,” Duarte said. “It reinforces the negative image that we are so desperately trying to turn around.”

Lopez agreed the incident raises the question of whether Gonzales should continue serving as a school board member. But he said the decision should be left to the school district.