Two Santa Barbara residents arrested in connection to Ojai carjacking

OJAI, Calif. - The Ventura County Sheriff's Office reported that two Santa Barbara residents were arrested in the City of Ventura on Tuesday in connection to an Ojai carjacking incident.

Sheriff's deputies assigned to the City of Ojai responded to the reported carjacking around 8:52 p.m. Monday night.

They said the crime occurred in the Vons Shopping center at 1127 Maricopa Highway.

Upon arriving, deputies spoke with a victim at the scene who told them two people had stolen his car.

One of the suspects reportedly battered the victim and forcibly took his car keys from him before taking off in his vehicle.

Fortunately, the victim did not sustain any significant injuries due to being battered.

Deputies took down the stolen vehicle's information and were alerted around 12:43 a.m. Tuesday morning that the car's license plate had been spotted by an Automated License Plate Reader near Oxnard.

Deputies conducted a high-risk stop on the vehicle in the area of Olivas Park Drive and Victoria Avenue in the City of Ventura and arrested both occupants.

They were later identified as a man and woman from the City of Santa Barbara. The two were booked in the Ventura County Jail on for carjacking charges as well as unrelated domestic violence and drug-related charges.

Both individuals are scheduled to appear in court on Thursday at 1:30 p.m.