Photo: Richard Gonzalez
October 4, 2020 – Ventura County, Ca.
Like the classic Sammy Cahn-Jimmy Van Heusen song made famous by the late crooner Frank Sinatra (“Love and Marriage”), in the annals of contemporary crime, it feels like guns and drugs go together “like a horse and carriage,” so common are they a factor in felony arrests.
The October 1st arrest of 35-year-old Camarillo resident Richard Gonzalez certainly does little to dispel that obvious perception. According to Ventura County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Detective Jarrod Foote, Gonzalez had been the subject of law enforcement scrutiny throughout the preceding month to the point that he was considered “a wanted felon” with an arrest warrant circulating throughout the county with his name on it.
When Gonzalez was spotted motoring down a major thoroughfare in the City of Oxnard late in the morning of the 1st , “detectives conducted an enforcement stop” of his vehicle. Once contact with him was made, he was taken into custody on the outstanding warrant.
At that point, a search of his vehicle was made, leading to the discovery of “a concealed loaded firearm, along with heroin, methamphetamine, and marijuana,” all of which were in sufficient form and quantity to give rise to the suspicion that Gonzalez was actively engaged in their sales.
Foote reported that as a “convicted felon on active Post Release Offender Supervision,” Gonzalez is prohibited from possessing drugs or firearms.
He was transported to Ventura County Jail, where he was booked on charges of being in possession of a controlled substance while armed with a firearm, possession of controlled substance, possession of a concealed weapon, and violation of the terms of his parole. He remains in custody on a no-bail hold.
Photo: Courtesy Ventura County Jail Booking
