SPPD: Known gang member arrested
for suspicion of stabbing brother

Santa Paula Police arrested a known gang member Friday for allegedly stabbing his brother during an early morning family dispute. The arrest resulted from an anonymous tip that the suspect was hiding in a trash dumpster not far from where the incident occurred.

The July 3 incident was reported at about 7:43 a.m. when SPPD Officers were dispatched to the 100 block of Sheppard Road in response to a stabbing victim.

According to SPPD Sgt. Cody Madison, when officers arrived they found the victim, an unidentified 32 year old male of Santa Paula, who had received a single stab wound to the abdomen area.

The wound, Madison noted, was not life-threatening and Santa Paula EMTs and ambulance personnel treated the victim at the scene before he was transported to Ventura County Medical Center.

During the investigation it was determined the suspect, Sammy Ruiz Sr., 46 of Santa Paula, had become involved in a verbal argument with his brother during a dispute with another family member.

“The argument escalated into a fistfight,” which Madison said, “ultimately resulted in the victim being stabbed. Shortly thereafter the suspect fled the scene.”

Several hours later, at approximately 1 p.m. the Santa Paula Police Department received an anonymous report of a “subject hiding in a dumpster in the industrial area of 100 block of Calavo Street,” and when officers arrived they found Ruiz “hiding in a dumpster under a large amount of trash.”

Madison said Ruiz was taken into custody without incident.