Home Invasion Suspects Nabbed
Ventura County-
Sitting astride the Santa Clara River between Fillmore and Valencia, the unincorporated town of Piru has historically been recognized more as the gateway to Lake Piru water sports and as a frequently-filmed location for numerous television shows and motion pictures than it has as a hotbed of criminal activity.
That tranquility was shattered on the afternoon of April 29th, however, when the Santa Clara Valley Sheriff’s Station received a 911 Emergency alert of a home invasion robbery in progress involving a trio of violent suspects. Responding Ventura County Sheriff’s Deputies discovered a victim who had been battered with a baseball bat inside his residence, from which electronics, prescription medications, and cash had been taken under threat of further serious bodily injury.
According to VCSD spokesman Senior Deputy Brian Slominski, “investigators from the Sheriff’s Gang Unit immediately joined the investigation”, working closely with the Santa Clara Valley Station detectives on the scene. While Slominski did not provide the media with information as to the specific law enforcement tactics and protocols involved, the investigation did soon yield the identities of those believed to have been involved. Pursuant to those identifications, Max Ziegler, 21, and Mendy Martin, 37, were tracked to their Santa Paula residence that same evening and taken into custody.
Contemporaneously, VCSD investigators were led to the City of Carpinteria, and with the collaboration of Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Deputies, located Nick Crockett, 45, in an area motel where he was arrested without incident. His arrest involved the service of a search warrant upon the premises, where, according to Slominski, Deputies “discovered evidence and property related to the home invasion robbery.”
Crockett, Ziegler, and Martin were all transported to Ventura County Jail where they were booked for home invasion robbery and battery, with bail set at $100,000.
Read more:
Ventura.Edhat: Piru Home Invasion
VCStar: Three arrested in connection with home invasion robbery in Piru
Sespe Sun: Home Invasion Robbery And Arrests
