1 youth arrested, fellow cyclists sought in attacks

A 13-year-old was taken into custody Saturday night for allegedly throwing a rock at a woman in west Ventura.

The Ventura Police Department said it received multiple calls of a group of juveniles causing disturbances while riding electric bicycles around 10:30 p.m. Saturday.

Witnesses told officers the crew of cyclists first attacked a 66-year-old homeless woman as she slept in a sleeping bag near Main and Peking streets, near the underpass for Highway 33. A second woman nearby said the juveniles had thrown a rock and struck her, according to Ventura police.

Meanwhile, other callers told police a group of juveniles on bikes, believed to be the same group, had been disturbing and spitting on people near the Crowne Plaza Ventura Beach hotel near the Ventura Pier.

The cyclists returned to the scene of the initial incident and when they spotted officers they tried to ride away. Officers caught one cyclist, the 13-year-old teen, and his female passenger.

The victim struck by the rock told identified the 13-year-old as the one who threw the rock. Ventura police said the teen was arrested on suspicion of battery and later released to a parent.

The juveniles who attacked the sleeping homeless woman have not been identified. Anyone with information about their identity or who saw the incident is asked to call Ventura Police at 805-650-8010.

6 restaurants burglarized in Moorpark, T.O.

At least six East County restaurants were burglarized after closing Sunday night, according to the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office.

Three Moorpark eateries along New Los Angeles Avenue were targeted overnight, sheriff’s officials said. Another three restaurants in Thousand Oaks, one in the 100 block of North Moorpark Road and two more in the same complex in the 900 block of Westlake Boulevard, were also broken into, the sheriff’s office said. The cities of Moorpark and Thousand Oaks contract with the sheriff’s office for police services.

Deputies responded around 2:45 a.m. Monday on a report of an alarm in the 500 block of New Los Angeles Avenue and saw the business was broken into, sheriff’s Capt. Robert Yoos said. Deputies soon discovered a nearby resturant was also burglarized and shortly a third was found in the area. The amount of damage and what was taken was not immediately known, Yoos said.

In Thousand Oaks, an employee of a restaurant in the 900 block of Westlake Boulevard arrived Monday morning and discovered damage. The worker soon found another affected restaurant nearby and called deputies at 8:24 a.m., Yoos said. An undetermined amount of cash was taken from both eateries, the sheriff’s captain said.

An employee at a third restaurant in the 100 block of North Moorpark Road in Thousand Oaks called the sheriff’s office at 9:37 a.m. after the business was broken into, he said. Cash was also taken from the business, Yoos said.

It was not immediately clear if they were linked, Yoos said.

Residents can report suspicious people and vehicles by calling 911 or the Thousand Oaks station’s non-emergency line 805-654-9511.

Authorities ID motorcyclist in T.O. fatal crash

A 21-year-old man died in a motorcycle crash Friday night in Thousand Oaks.

Jose Luis Diaz Cruz, of Oxnard, was riding around 11 p.m. near the intersection Westlake Boulevard and Hillcrest Drive when the crash between the motorcycle and another vehicle was reported, according to the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office. The agency is contracted to provide police services in Thousand Oaks.

Arriving deputies found the rider unresponsive and performed CPR, Capt. Nick Odenath said at the time. The rider was taken by ambulance to Los Robles Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

The driver of the other vehicle was also taken to the hospital for minor injuries. He was later released, sheriff’s officials.

Anyone who witnessed or has any additional information about the collision is encouraged to contact Senior Deputy Marcos Moreno at 805-494-8271 or marcos.moreno@ventura.org.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Ventura homeless woman attacked, East County eateries targeted, more