Danger Often Lurks for Workers at Youth Prison

It’s a wonder more employees haven’t been seriously hurt by inmates at the California Youth Authority prison in Camarillo.

More than 75% of the 700 male and female inmates are gang members who are incarcerated for crimes that include robbery, rape and murder, said prison spokeswoman Cynthia Brown.

And, although it’s supposed to be a correctional facility for youths, the age of the average inmate is 19, according to Brown. Some inmates are as young as 13 and others are as old as 25, serving time for crimes committed before they were 18.

“We have [fights] almost every day. But most of the time when they are given the order to break it up, they will sit down,” Brown said.

Unlike adult prisons, where detention officers can use deadly force if necessary, youth authority employees have only Mace to stop fights or protect themselves, Brown said.

So far this year, five prison employees have been the victims of assaults, Brown said.

Incidents include inmates hurling milk cartons and books at employees, spitting fruit juice and other beverages at them or attempted biting and punching.

The most heinous assault of 1999 occurred earlier this month when a female counselor was beaten by two 18-year-old male inmates who were being escorted back to their dormitory from school classes.

The inmates, one of whom was angry at the counselor for writing him up for a rules violation, are now in solitary confinement, Brown said. The counselor was treated for bruises and sent home to recuperate for two weeks.

In 1998 there were seven assaults against prison employees, and there were 20 such cases in 1997, Brown said.

“If we follow policy and procedures, [Mace and handcuffs] is enough,” Brown said.

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Road rage in Ventura County usually takes the form of persistent tailgating, profane hand gestures or tossing a few marbles at a car window.

So it came as a surprise to authorities when two men went a few rounds in Thousand Oaks last week in what the cops believe is the first bloody confrontation in the county this year over driving styles.

Since January, there have been a half-dozen reports of vandalism against other vehicles but no arrests.

“It doesn’t happen very often and rarely gets to the point where it gets reported to us,” said California Highway Patrol Officer Dave Cockrill.

Before the roadside brawl, Agoura Hills resident Randall Lee King, 40, was on his motorcycle and stopped at a red light, according to police. Dean Raymond Walsh, 39, of Camarillo was behind King in his black German luxury car.

“When the signal light changed to green, King had difficulty engaging in first gear. Walsh honked his horn at King, and King was able to get it in gear and drive,” said Sheriff’s Senior Deputy Kevin Vaden.

King said the honking continued so he pulled up next to Walsh’s car after Walsh stopped along a curb near Lindero Canyon Road, Vaden said.

The two men confronted each other, and punches and kicks ensued. During the melee, King flagged down a passing deputy.

King was treated for cuts and neck pain at a county hospital. Walsh declined medical treatment for chin and neck injuries. Both men were cited for battery.

“In general, it’s better if people take a deep breath and let the person go,” Cockrill noted.

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As part of the inaugural Nyeland Acres Cleanup campaign, cops and county code enforcement officers went to the neighborhood, hoping to spruce up the area by rounding up loose dogs, removing graffiti and citing abandoned cars. Instead, they wound up cleaning house.

While walking in the 3600 block of Almond Drive, authorities participating in the inaugural Nyeland Acres Cleanup campaign noted dozens of old cars parked in front of a single house, said Sheriff’s Deputy Jim Aguirre.

Deputy Claudia Duffner knocked on the front door to let the residents know they were about to get a pile of tickets. According to Aguirre, Duffner found four children, between 6 and 12, living in filthy conditions inside the house.

Police said there were used syringes scattered on the floor from treating one of the children, who is diabetic; live and dead rats stuck in traps throughout the house; and trash and fecal matter, from humans and animals, strewn about. The house had one bathroom without a working tub or toilet, Aguirre said.

Both parents were at their jobs--the father works in construction and the mother produces magnetic disks--when Duffner arrived. Both came home after deputies called them at their jobs.

“They said the reason the house was a mess was because it was flooded in El Nino and the insurance didn’t cover roof damage. I’m working on my house too, and it doesn’t look like this,” Aguirre said.

Jose and Teresa Diaz--41 and 44, respectively--were charged with four counts each of misdemeanor child endangerment, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Mark Soriano. Both face trial beginning Sept. 9.

The house was condemned, and the children are now living with an aunt in El Rio until their parents can find a new home.

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Like her great-great-grandfather--who planted the first orange orchard in Fillmore in 1887--Leslie Stevens Warren likes to forge new ground.

The 49-year-old Fillmore native is the new police chief of her hometown, taking the place of Christopher Godfrey, who was promoted to the rank of commander and transferred to an assignment in the east county.

Warren is a captain in the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department, but is considered a police chief because Fillmore contracts for law enforcement with the county.

She is the second female chief of police for a contract city, following Kathy Kemp, who serves as police chief in Thousand Oaks. The Fillmore station has 38 sworn officers and two civilian employees.

“She has family that has lived in Fillmore for years and years, and she’s got real ties to the community, and that helps. She knows them and they know her,” said sheriff’s spokesman Eric Nishimoto.

Warren praised Godfrey for doing good work during his tenure in Fillmore, citing indications that crime and gang activity are down and department morale is up.

“I will continue the status quo but also look to enhance it,” she said.

Warren has been a law enforcement officer for 20 years. She also worked with her husband--Cmdr. Ken Warren, who works at the sheriff’s headquarters in Ventura--for several years running a mom-and-pop grocery in eastern Washington.

“We lived with the lumberjacks and the rain, and after a while I got a little bored,” she said.

As chief, there’s little chance of that happening.