Roundup: Late-night fire near harbor, smash-and-grab arrests, 101 closure in Carpinteria

Here's a roundup of recent incidents and announcements from Ventura County and regional agencies:

Vegetation fire near harbor

VENTURA – A fire that broke out in heavy vegetation near the Ventura Harbor late Friday night burned about 1.5 acres.

The blaze was reported around 11:50 p.m. near the 1600 block of Spinnaker Drive, close to a water treatment plant at the harbor's south end, Ventura Fire Department officials reported.

The fire burned in thick arundo between the water treatment plant and the Santa Clara River. It took crews two hours to stop forward progress. Firefighters kept the blaze to 1.5 acres, with no damage to structures. No injuries were reported. Oxnard Fire Department crews also responded.

The incident started in a homeless encampment, officials said, and crews continued to put out hot spots on Saturday.

On Thursday afternoon, a vegetation fire erupted in the Arundell Barranca off Telegraph Road, igniting eucalyptus and palm trees and damaging fencing and an outbuilding east of Ventura College.

Thursday's incident closed a stretch of Telegraph for several hours as Ventura, Oxnard and county firefighters extinguished the blaze. Officials said Saturday they were still trying to determine the cause and were following leads on several individuals who may have been involved.

Southbound drivers delayed

CARPINTERIA – A big rig mishap on southbound Highway 101 in Carpinteria closed lanes for hours Saturday, snarling traffic along the corridor through Santa Barbara County.

A semitrailer ran into guardrail along the right lane late Saturday morning near the Santa Claus Lane exit, the California Highway Patrol reported.

No serious injuries were reported, although the cleanup of oil and diesel spilled in the roadway closed both lanes for much of the day, backing up traffic into Santa Barbara and crowding surrounding surface streets with detoured travelers.

Caltrans officials said additional accidents were reported on nearby Toro Canyon Road.

Lanes had reopened by late afternoon.

Smash-and-grab robberies included Camarillo site

CAMARILLO – A federal criminal case against three men accused of a series of smash-and-grab robberies at cell phone stores includes an incident last month in Camarillo.

The complaint covers a half-dozen robberies that took place in a single day in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, but law enforcement officials have reportedly linked the men to more than 50 similar incidents throughout Southern California, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. The three were charged Thursday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.

The men – aged 20, 21 and 23 and from Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties – used hammers to smash display cases and steal iPhones and other gear, authorities allege.

On Jan. 15, the trio reportedly robbed six locations, including the T-Mobile store at 1656 Arneill Road in Camarillo. They also struck T-Mobile stores in Long Beach, Carson, Inglewood and Encino along with an AT&T Wireless shop in Woodland Hills, prosecutors say.

The men traveled in a blue Kia Optima and carried out the crimes during regular store hours. The driver would stay in the car while the other two went inside. After taking electronics, they drove off, officials said.

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As part of an ongoing investigation, authorities had obtained a warrant two days earlier allowing them to place a GPS tracking device on the Kia, said Ciaran McEvoy, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles.

On the evening of Jan. 15, law enforcement officers used the tracker to find the Kia in North Hollywood. The men were detained after a short pursuit. Officers recovered phones stolen from the Encino store as well as hammers with distinctively colored handles. GPS data from the suspects' cell phones and the Kia showed they had been near that day's robberies when they occurred, authorities said.

Losses from the six Jan. 15 robberies were tallied at $33,795. If convicted of all charges, each defendant would face a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for each count.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Los Angeles Police Department.

Arrests in felony drug cases

VENTURA COUNTY – Authorities have made arrests in a fatal overdose case and an incident involving drugs supplied to minors.

On Wednesday, a 30-year-old Los Angeles man was arrested in connection with a fatal overdose reported outside Simi Valley last spring. On May 8, Ventura County Sheriff's deputies responded to the fatal fentanyl overdose in the 3000 block of Black Avenue.

The suspect had allegedly sold the fentanyl to the victim. Detectives located him in Lancaster, where he was arrested on suspicion of felony drug violations.

Last month, sheriff's officials arrested a 25-year-old Newbury Park man and a 20-year-old Moorpark man who had allegedly given drugs to three underage girls in a Newbury Park motel room.

The two men had been at the motel on Newbury Road with the teens, one age 15 and two 16, on the night of Jan. 22, authorities said. They allegedly injected one girl with methamphetamine, which was discovered when she returned home. Deputies went to the motel room and discovered one of the men was associating with a girl, 16, in violation of an active restraining order.

An investigation found the men had given the three girls alcohol, marijuana and possibly counterfeit prescription drugs with fentanyl, in addition to injecting one of them with meth, officials allege. Both were ultimately arrested and charged with various felonies.