Photo: Stock Image
31-year-old Thousand Oaks Marco Antonio Gutierrez had an “interesting” couple of weeks leading up to the Holiday Season and none of his behavior in the first three weeks of December reflected the slightest iota of the Christmas Spirit.
According to Ventura County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Detective Dylan Foley, it all started just after midnight on December 4 th when VCSD deputies rolled up to a Thousand Oaks residence pursuant to a report of an outburst of domestic violence in which Gutierrez “battered his girlfriend causing great bodily injury,” and then vandalized her vehicle causing extensive damage. By the time patrol deputies arrived on the scene, however, Gutierrez was nowhere to be found.
In a classic “return to the scene of the crime,” some 18 hours later Gutierrez returned to his battered girlfriend’s residence once again and once again “vandalized the victim’s vehicle.” And once again when deputies arrived on the scene, their suspect was nowhere to be found.
Perhaps thinking that his career as a criminal could flourish under a lucky star, 12 days later, on the afternoon of December 16 th , Gutierrez allegedly conducted “an armed robbery” of a neighborhood gas station and promptly became the serious focus of the VCSD Major Crimes and Special Enforcement Units. Over the next five days, “numerous detectives from multiple investigative teams” dedicated themselves to locating and apprehending Gutierrez.
On December 21st, with search warrant and tipster information in hand, VCSD SWAT deputies showed up at Gutierrez’s apartment and took him into custody. He was then transported to Ventura County Jail, where he was booked on charges of felony domestic violence, felony vandalism, and Robbery. He remains in custody with his bail set at $235,000.
