The driver of a box truck who attempted to stop another box truck driver during a wild pursuit in Los Angeles earlier this week said he unknowingly joined the chase and was just trying to stop the man who struck his vehicle. Roy Perdomo was driving a box truck on Wednesday in Thousand Oaks when he was suddenly rear-ended by another box truck that was trying to evade officers. “He hit me first,” Perdomo said. “He broke my right mirror, right fender and he pulled the front.” The victim admits he was upset the other driver struck him and fled. Determined to make him stop or at least document the ..read more

More than 100 students, parents, alumni and faculty attended a meeting Thursday after an all-girls middle and high school in Thousand Oaks announced it is closing at the end of the school year. La Reina Middle and High School, a top-ranked Catholic school with a 100% college acceptance rate, announced it will close in June due to finances. The school cited inflation, the need for tuition assistance and diminished reserves as reasons for its impending closure. “For several years, our school leadership and community have worked to address challenging financial headwinds largely caused by signifi ..read more

A woman who stabbed a man more than 100 times before she turned the knife on herself during what was described as a “marijuana-induced psychotic state” will not serve any prison time, a judge ruled Tuesday. Bryn Spejcher, a Thousand Oaks resident, has been ordered to serve 100 hours of community service and two years of probation for the deadly stabbing of Chad O’Melia. Spejcher, during a state of psychosis triggered by marijuana, stabbed O’Melia more than 100 times on May 27, 2018, after they smoked the drug together. “She inhaled, and then from that point on, she went into a psychotic state ..read more

After the football games ended, leftovers were put away and the dishes were done, residents in a Thousand Oaks neighborhood were sleeping away the final hours of Thanksgiving with no idea car thieves were starting early on Black Friday. Residents in the community northwest of Los Angeles reported a string of burglaries. “Any car that was open on the street, they got into it and they were able to take anything they wanted,” resident Alisa Bertram said.  Including, in Bertram’s case, the car itself.  “I just started yelling to my husband, ‘Where is the car? Where is the car?’” Bertram ..read more

A man has been arrested in the death of a 69-year-old Jewish man who suffered fatal injuries at dueling pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian rallies in Thousand Oaks. Loay Alnaji, 50, of Moorpark, was arrested Thursday at his home on suspicion of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Paul Kessler. Alnaji’s bail will be set at $1 million, according to the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department. Details about what led to the arrest were not immediately available. In a news release announcing the arrest, the sheriff’s department did not provide details about the altercation between Kessler and Alnaji ..read more

A man has been arrested in the death of a 69-year-old Jewish man who suffered fatal injuries at dueling pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian rallies in Thousand Oaks. Loay Alnaji, 50, of Moorpark, was arrested Thursday at his home on suspicion of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Paul Kessler. Alnaji’s bail will be set at $1 million, according to the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department. Details about what led to the arrest were not immediately available. In a news release announcing the arrest, the sheriff’s department did not provide details about the altercation between Kessler and Alnaji ..read more

Five years have passed since the mass shooting at Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks. Family, community members and first responders gathered today to honor and light candles for the 12 victims.  “Somehow these five years feel like an eternity and the blink of an eye,” Lorrie Dingman, mother of 21-year-old victim Blake Dingman, said. “The events that unfolded on that night are still fresh in my mind as if they happened yesterday.” The Dingman family shared their journey processing their grief and how it has turned into one of making a difference for others in honor of their late so ..read more

A Jewish man died Monday as a result of injuries suffered during an altercation at pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian rallies over the weekend in Thousand Oaks, according to the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department. The 69-year-old man, identified as Paul Kessler, was injured in a confrontation during the rally northwest of Los Angeles that involved pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian supporters. Details about what led to Kessler’s death were not immediately available. According to the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department, a pro-Palestinian rally and a pro-Israeli rally were happening simultaneously at ..read more

A man armed with a knife and walking a dog on a leash chased a chef at a Southern California pizza restaurant and tried to light him on fire before attacking another man in a chaotic confrontation caught on camera, authorities said Tuesday. Part of the bizarre altercation Sunday afternoon was captured on camera at Allegro Pizza in the 400 block of East Avenida De Los Arboles in Thousand Oaks. Deputies responded to the restaurant after a report of a man armed with a kitchen knife throwing lighter fluid on an employee. The employee was a chef preparing vegetables in the kitchen before the busine ..read more

Fifteen-year-old Wesley Welling was waiting for the bus with his sister and other students when a driver allegedly intentionally drove into them, and now his mother is sharing it’s a miracle her daughter wasn’t killed as well, as the family attempts to pick up the broken pieces of their lives Wednesday. The 24-year-old driver was in jail Wednesday. Kelly Welling said she’s so shocked and heartbroken in an interview with NBCLA. Kelly shared that Wesley was her middle child, and described him as a teenager who just always wanted to help people. Thousand Oaks 12 hours ago Classmates Mourn Tee ..read more