Ventura County Sheriff – Incident Press Release
On May 21, 2021 at about 2:40 pm, Ventura County Sheriff’s Office Deputies from the Moorpark Patrol Station responded to a disturbance call where the suspect, Richard Ponder, was arguing and threatening family members, throwing things, and destroying property.
Upon arrival, deputies located Ponder walking in the 4000 block of Hitch Blvd. Ponder refused to stop, telling deputies he was armed with a handgun. He also concealed his hands in his pockets. Ponder told deputies he was going to shoot them and threatened to commit, “Suicide by Cop.” Deputies continued to follow Ponder from a distance until he sat down behind a telephone pole obscuring himself from the deputies. Ponder continued to refuse to obey deputies’ commands or engage in dialogue for several minutes. Ultimately, Ponder stepped out from behind the telephone pole with his hands raised. Ponder obeyed the deputies’ commands and was taken into custody without any physical use of force. No weapon was located.
Upon further investigation, deputies learned Ponder had become upset with a member of his family and began throwing and breaking items, including furniture, inside the residence. Ponder threatened to batter the same family member as well as a child in the house. Ponder threw a heavy metal object at the child, narrowly missing them.
Richard Ponder was arrested for several charges including Criminal Threats, Assault with a Deadly Weapon, Vandalism, Child Abuse, Resisting a Deputy with Threats of Violence and a felony Post Release Supervision Warrant. Richard Ponder was booked at the Ventura County Pre-Trial Detention Center with bail set at $250,000 and a Post Release Supervision Hold.
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