Fillmore Manhunt: Police K-9 and Drones Help Capture Parolee Reportedly Chasing People with a Knife
– by F. Scott Faulkner
FILLMORE, CA — January 20, 2026
Ventura County Sheriff’s Department deputies attached to the Fillmore Division arrested a
parolee on the afternoon of January 18th following what VCSD spokesman Sgt. Jarrod Foote
described as “a large-scale manhunt involving drones, aviation support and a police K-9 team.”
Deputies from the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office Fillmore Station were dispatched at about
12:01 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 17, after reports that “a man was chasing people with a knife” in the
river bottom. When deputies arrived, they located an adult male victim and spoke with witnesses
who identified 34-year-old Ivan Hernandez as the suspect.
Hernandez is “a documented criminal street gang member” who was on active parole for a prior
shooting. Deputies from the Sheriff’s Homeless Liaison Unit responded to the scene as a
secure perimeter was established “in the river bottom,” where Hernandez was believed to have
fled.
At that point the Sheriff’s Unmanned Aerial Systems Unit, Aviation Unit, and K-9 Unit were
brought into play, but Hernandez eluded capture for the remainder of January 17th.
Deputies returned early Sunday, January 18, and “conducted a second search” during which they
located Hernandez and took him into custody without further incident.
Hernandez was transported to Ventura County Jail, where he was booked on a charge of assault
with a deadly weapon and parole violation. He remains in custody on a no-bail hold.
