County Fair Officials Play Down Stabbings as Isolated Gang Attack

VENTURA —  One day after stabbings left two men hospitalized, Ventura County Fair officials on Wednesday played down the severity of the incident, saying it was an isolated gang attack that did not warrant beefing up security.

“We’ll keep the same profile, but are not going to step it up,” Ventura Police Lt. Steve Bowman said after three Santa Paula residents were injured in the attack at a crowded grandstand rock concert.

“What happened was a very isolated incident and there are no indications we’ll have a continuation of the problem,” he said.

No arrests have been made, and an investigation continues, police said.

Two of the victims were hospitalized for neck and back wounds. Ruben Carlos Zuniga, 22, and a 16-year-old boy were in stable condition Wednesday at Ventura County Medical Center. The third victim, 21-year-old Rusty Zuniga, was treated and released Tuesday night.

None of the victims could be reached for comment Wednesday.

“The victims were gang members,” Bowman said. “There’s no doubt about it.

“This was not just a random attack on fairgoers and is not an incident a family who wants to come to the fair should be worried about.”

The last reported stabbing at the fair was in 1977, Bowman said, when two police officers were injured while breaking up a fight in the parking lot after the fair had closed for the night.

“Regarding safety, our track record speaks for itself,” said Michael Paluszak, the fair’s general manager.

Police did have an increased presence for the Tuesday concert by Next, a band with an urban / hip-hop sound popular among teenagers. More than 40 officers from Santa Barbara to Oxnard, including gang units and probation and parole officers, patrolled the grandstand area.

“If there was going to be a day to attract gang members, Tuesday would be the one,” said Bowman, who commands the fair’s police force. “But with our joint effort, gangs from other areas wouldn’t be invisible. Their hometown cops would know them.”

Despite the increased gang watch, fair officials said the stabbing would have been hard to prevent, considering that 8,000 youths were at the concert. Nearly 30,000 people attended the fair Tuesday.

“It was quick and virtually unpreventable,” Paluszak said. “Frankly, I don’t know if I’m even calling this significant. It’s something that could happen anywhere in town, and we’re like a small city. Relative to the grand scheme of life, where people get shot every day in L.A. for no reason, this is insignificant.”

For more than five years, the fair has had an anti-gang policy that prohibits patrons from entering the grounds wearing gang attire. But the policy does not bar gang members from going to the fair.

“We can’t keep them out,” Bowman said. “They’re Americans, too. But we do say, ‘You can come in, but your hat can’t.’ ”

By eliminating the signs and symbols gangs use to identify and communicate with each other, Bowman said, there is a lesser chance that challenges or fights might erupt among rivals.

But there is one glitch in the no-gang attire policy: tattoos. Many gang members have identifying signs tattooed on their arms, across their backs or on their stomachs. They can enter the fairgrounds with their tattoos hidden under their shirts, then later walk around bare-chested, announcing their affiliations.

“We can’t make people take off their tattoos,” Bowman said.

As for requiring patrons to wear shirts, it is an option that has so far been ruled out.

“We talked about it, but it would be too hard to enforce--especially when it gets so hot,” Bowman said. “And the tattoos haven’t really generated a problem, except for maybe last night.”

At the Tuesday concert, at least one victim had multiple tattoos and was shirtless, Bowman said.

When it comes to talk of installing metal detectors at the fair gates, officials are not inclined to regard them as necessary.

“I wouldn’t want to go there,” Bowman said. “We don’t have the number of incidents that would warrant the incredible expense and time metal detectors would take.”

When Bowman and his officers patrol the fairgrounds--often in shorts, blue “Police” T-shirts and tennis shoes, while packing a gun and a badge--they are rarely chasing criminals.

They focus on the carnival midway, beer booths and anywhere there is entertainment, but mostly end up serving as sources of information.

“So much of this job is customer relations: Where are the restrooms, how do I find my kids?” Bowman said. “There’s not a lot of crime chasing here. We’re just making our presence known.”

Patrons heading to Wednesday night’s Village People concert were not on edge about Tuesday’s stabbings.

“I was out here on Friday night and it was no big deal,” said Todd Henard of Oak View. “You just know to stay away on nights there are concerts where there will be bad people.”

C.J. Johnson of Port Hueneme has been to the fair four times in the past week.

“I see enough security that I’m confident if there’s a problem, they’ll take care of it,” she said. “A little scattered incident here and there doesn’t matter. Three people won’t ruin an entire fair for 20,000 people.”

For Toby Applebay of Ventura, there was not much that could have prevented the stabbings.

“I don’t think it’s so much a lack of security than the prevalence of violence in our society,” she said. “I feel as safe as I’ve ever felt at the fair.”

Officers have been evicting several people each night of the fair, Bowman said, mostly for fights. But beyond Tuesday’s stabbing, there have been no significant problems during the fair’s first week, he said.

“We’ve had little flare-ups, but nothing like this stabbing,” said fair publicist Teri Raley. “It makes you sad and mad when you get an isolated confrontation like that . . . but when you see people with strollers going through the fair at 10:30 at night, you know we still live in a very special place.”