Alleged Gang Member Arrested

Continuing a crackdown against Ventura County’s largest and most violent street gang, Oxnard police have arrested a suspected gang member for the second time after a search of his home yielded weapons, drugs and thousands in cash.

Leonardo Medina, who was blinded in a 2002 gang shooting, was first arrested June 26 on suspicion of disobeying a preliminary injunction against members of the Colonia Chiques.

Medina, 22, is accused of violating the injunction’s ban on congregating with other gang members in a 6.6-square-mile “safety zone.”

He allegedly threatened police when he was first arrested, prompting Wednesday’s search of his Oxnard home.

In the search, police said they found two knives, two handguns, cocaine and marijuana. Medina, who now faces multiple felony charges, was being held Thursday at Ventura County Jail on $600,000 bail.

Medina’s arrest is the fifth of a Chiques gang member since a Ventura County Superior Court judge granted a request June 1 to impose the preliminary injunction.

The gang has been involved in 39 homicides since 1992, Oxnard police spokesman David Keith said.

But since prosecutors announced the pursuit of the injunction in March, gang-related crime has dropped 35%, Keith said.

The injunction also prohibits members of the gang from using gang signs, intimidating witnesses and wearing Dallas Cowboys attire. Prosecutors filed papers in late June to make the preliminary injunction permanent, saying it would be necessary to fully combat gang violence.