Ventura County Sheriff Department – Incident Press Release
On the evening of April 22nd, at around 8:30 pm, patrol deputies from the Moorpark Sheriff’s Station responded to a residence in the 14100 block of Maya Circle, in the City of Moorpark, for a call of an assault with a deadly weapon that just occurred. When they arrived at the residence, deputies learned that one of the residents in the home, identified as Ryan Rietkerk, had assaulted his roommate with a large blunt object, causing a moderate to severe injury. Deputies also learned that Rietkerk threatened his elderly father with a knife. When deputies attempted to contact Rietkerk in the home, they learned that he had barricaded himself in an upstairs bedroom and refused to come out. After attempts to negotiate with Rietkerk failed, Sheriff’s managers dispatched several detectives from the Sheriff’s Special Services Bureau who were trained in the use and deployment of special weapons and barricaded suspect techniques.
Upon their arrival, detectives continued their attempts to negotiate with Rietkerk in order to peacefully resolve the situation. However, when negotiations failed for the second time, detectives forced entry into the bedroom in order to arrest Rietkerk. When detectives encountered Rietkerk in his bedroom, they gave him multiple verbal commands to comply and submit to arrest. When Rietkerk failed to comply with their commands, detectives utilized a less lethal weapon in order to gain his compliance. When the less lethal weapon failed to gain Rietkerk’s compliance, detectives utilized a Sheriff’s K-9, which had the desired results, as the detectives were able to secure Rietkerk in handcuffs and arrest him. Rietkerk was transported to a local hospital, where he was treated for minor injuries from the K-9 and the less lethal weapon. Rietkerk’s roommate was also treated for his injury. Rietkerk was later booked at the Ventura County Main Jail and charged with two counts of 245(a)(1) PC / Assault with deadly weapon, 148(a)(1) PC / Resist arrest, 368 (b)(1) PC / Elder abuse and 422 PC / Criminal threats.
Ventura County Crime Stoppers will pay up to $1,000 reward for information, which leads to the arrest and criminal complaint against the person(s) responsible for this crime. The caller may remain anonymous. The call is not recorded. Call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477).