Off-Duty Officer Shot at in Car; 4 Teens Arrested

Four Oxnard teenagers are in custody after police said they shot point-blank at an off-duty officer as he drove home from work along the Rincon early Monday morning.

California Highway Patrol Officer Allen Jones, 30, of Ventura, who works in Santa Barbara, was unharmed in the 12:30 a.m. incident north of Ventura.

The four apparently did not know Allen was a law enforcement officer when they pulled up beside his sports car as he drove south on the Ventura Freeway, said Dave Cockrill, spokesman for the Ventura CHP office.

A gunman in the front passenger seat rolled down his window and fired a handgun, Cockrill said.

“The officer braked real hard and pulled over to the right and at that point heard a gunshot, saw a muzzle flash and saw something hit his car, which would have been the bullet,” he said.

The slug pierced the car’s left front fender.

“It could easily have gone right through his door,” Cockrill said, adding that the motivation for the shooting was unclear.

“I think it was a matter of he had a nice car and they wanted it, for whatever reason,” he said. “When their plans went awry, maybe they just fired a round in frustration. I don’t know.”

The gunmen did not attempt to communicate with Allen or force him to stop before shooting, Cockrill said.

The four men were arrested about 25 minutes later on Stanley Avenue in Ventura.

Allen used a roadside call box to give authorities a description of the car. A patrolling CHP car in the area then tailed the suspects’ sedan while awaiting backup.

Ventura County sheriff’s deputies made the arrest, while Ventura police officers closed Stanley Avenue and the California 33 offramp, said Lt. Brad Talbot of the Ventura Police Department.

Booked into Ventura County Jail on suspicion of assault with a firearm were Jeffrey Nelson, 19, and Michael Branch, Luther Allen and David Burns, all 18. Bail was set at $20,000 apiece.

The four men will be arraigned Wednesday in Ventura County Municipal Court.

Cockrill couldn’t recall a similar shooting on a Ventura County highway.

“It’s rare,” he said. “That’s L.A. stuff.”