News Releases

District Attorney Erik Nasarenko announced today that Thomas Charles Ballas (DOB 07/11/89), of Westlake Village, was sentenced on July 21, 2023, to one year Ventura County Jail and is required to register as a sex offender. Ballas, previously pled guilty to two felony counts of sending harmful matter to a minor.

Ballas, a former theater technical specialist at Westlake High School, worked closely with the choir program. In December 2022, a student came forward to report that Ballas was sending her explicit photos of himself through the social media app Snapchat.

Further investigation by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office revealed a possible second victim. Upon discovery of this information, detectives contacted the second victim, who then confirmed that she too had received explicit photos of Ballas when she was in high school.

The Ventura County District Attorney’s Office announced today that Victor Villanueva Legaria (DOB 06/13/90), of Oxnard, was convicted by a jury on July 20, 2023, of two felony counts of lewd acts on a child under the age of 14 and one felony count of lewd acts on a child, aged 14 or 15. The jury also found true the special allegations that Legaria took advantage of a position of trust or confidence to commit the offenses and that the victim was particularly vulnerable.

On July 20, 2023, a Ventura County jury found Keith Eric Cook (DOB 04/26/88), of Camarillo, guilty of felony robbery with personal use of a firearm, false imprisonment, and unlawful possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. All special allegations including use of a firearm and this being Cook’s third strike, were also found to be true. This marks Cook’s third robbery conviction, which makes him eligible for the maximum sentence of life in prison.

The Ventura County District Attorney’s Office announced today that Robert Haight (DOB 11/26/61), of Palo Alto, pled not guilty on July 20, 2023, to five felony counts including assault with caustic chemicals and assault with a deadly weapon.

District Attorney Erik Nasarenko announced today that charges were filed against Barry Fike (DOB 09/05/55), of Fillmore, for multiple felony counts of sending harmful matter to a child, felony communicating with a child with the intent to commit a sexual act, and arranging a meeting with a minor for a lewd purpose. Fike pled not guilty to all charges at today’s arraignment.

Fike is a minister at Fillmore Church of Christ. He previously taught at Oaks Christian High School and has been a visiting professor at Pepperdine but is not currently an instructor at the university.

District Attorney Erik Nasarenko announced today the arrest of Bronson Schreiber (DOB 04/20/95), of Thousand Oaks, for possession of child sexual abuse material. Schreiber was arrested this morning by members of the Ventura County Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, with assistance from Simi Valley Police Department detectives.

District Attorney Erik Nasarenko announced today that an amended complaint has been filed in the case against Austin Allen Eis (DOB 05/29/98), of Camarillo. Eis is now charged with first-degree murder for the unlawful killing of 15-year-old Wesley W., of Thousand Oaks. Follow-up investigation also identified six additional students who were in the path of Eis’s vehicle. The amended complaint now charges Eis with a total of 19 counts of attempted murder. Other previous charges remain unchanged.

“In light of the ongoing investigation we have discovered new evidence to support additional charges and defendant’s premeditation,” said Senior Deputy District Attorney Amber Lee, a member of the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office Major Crimes Homicides Unit. “The amended complaint reflects that evidence.”

Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko announced today that on July 3, 2023, defendant PetSmart, LLC, a California limited liability company, entered a stipulated judgment and will pay $1,460,000 to settle a civil law enforcement complaint alleging that it engaged in false advertising and acts of unfair competition. Specifically, the complaint alleged that PetSmart unlawfully charged customers higher prices at checkout than what was listed in the aisle, in violation of Business & Professions Code sections 17200, 17500, and 12024.2(a)(2). This action was filed in Santa Cruz County Superior Court on behalf of the District Attorneys of Ventura, Los Angeles, San Diego, Contra Costa, Santa Cruz, Sonoma, and Marin counties.

District Attorney Erik Nasarenko announced today that Joel Randy Montijo (DOB 11/24/95), of Cerritos, and Joseph Martinez (DOB 06/21/98), of Port Hueneme, were sentenced for their roles in a 2017 murder and robbery spree in Oxnard. Montijo, who previously pled guilty on July 28, 2022, to one count of second-degree murder and four counts of second-degree robbery, was sentenced to 35 years to life in state prison. Martinez, who pled guilty on November 2, 2020, to two counts of voluntary manslaughter, four counts of second-degree robbery, and one count of attempted second-degree robbery, was sentenced to 20 years 8 months prison.

Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko announced today that Virgil Toader Negru (DOB 10/13/82), of Romania, was sentenced in Ventura County Superior Court to 240 days jail and two years felony probation. Negru previously pled guilty on June 6, 2023, to one count of felony identity theft and one count of forgery related to card skimming government fraud schemes.

Since March 2023, Negru and seven other Romanian skimming suspects have been arrested for skimming crimes tied to Ventura County. Five of the suspects have been linked to one another and are alleged to have stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars in EBT CalWORKs money.