Ventura Sheriff, DA Employees Accused Of Vandalizing BLM Banner

THOUSAND OAKS, CA — Two employees of the Ventura County justice system have been cited on suspicion of vandalizing a Black Lives Matter banner on private property in the North Ranch neighborhood of Thousand Oaks.

Darrin Stone, who worked as a service technician at the Pre-Trial Detention Facility in Ventura until he was placed on paid administrative leave, was caught on camera using a knife to cut the banner, which read “BLM” and hung from a fence facing Westlake Boulevard in North Ranch.

Maxwell Meyers, 19, hung the sign on his property and installed a remote camera to capture anyone damaging or removing it. Meyers told The Acorn that over the course of three weeks, the sign has been damaged or removed at least five times.

Police said that a sheriff’s department detective recognized Stone after someone posted a still of him on Nextdoor. The Ventura County Sheriff’s Department told The Acorn that Stone slashed the sign on Saturday, June 12 and Friday, June 19.

“I’m deeply disappointed that one of our employees involved himself in this type of illegal activity, especially when this is an infringement on someone’s First Amendment right to freedom of speech,” Ventura County Sheriff Bill Ayub said in a statement. “We will not tolerate unlawful or unethical behavior by anyone employed by our agency. We hold our employees to the highest standards, and there will be consequences for this.”

Craig Anderson, a non-sworn investigative assistant at the Ventura County district attorney’s office, was also caught vandalizing the sign on May 31. According to police, Anderson cut the sign down and was going to remove it before he noticed the camera and left.

Anderson has resigned from his job, according to the D.A.’s office. To avoid any conflict of interest, the D.A.’s office told The Acorn that it has handed the misdemeanor citation to the state attorney general’s office.

Another suspect, Jeffrey Moore, also of Thousand Oaks, is accused of spray-painting an “A” over the sign’s original “B” so that it would read “ALM,” or “All Lives Matter.” Police said Moore was identified through his work truck.

“You want to know why teens and young adults are on the streets of Thousand Oaks every day?” Myers asked The Acorn. “This is why.”