On Friday, Feb. 8 at approximately 8:15 p.m., a non-TOHS student from another high school in the CVUSD, stole from the concessions stand during the home boys basketball game and proceeded to run towards the parking lot in the front of school. Following the initial incident, a TOHS father chased the student as he jumped into a waiting Mercedes-Benz sedan alongside four other male juveniles according to Ventura County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Eric Bushchow.
Lisa Solis, the activities assistant at TOHS, was leaving the game and entering her car when the chase ensued. According to a police report filed on Feb. 9, she attempted to assist by taking a photo of the students, car and license plate. In doing so Solis stood directly in front of the vehicle and told the 16-year-old driver, who received his license a day prior, to stop. The driver accelerated the car, knocking Solis down. As the teen continued to drive over her, critical injuries were inflicted prior to leaving the scene.
The sheriff’s office identified the suspect involved in the hit-and-run and located him at his Newbury Park home later that evening. The suspect was arrested on suspicion of felony assault with a deadly weapon and was booked at the Ventura County juvenile detention center.
Suffering from life-threatening injuries, Solis was taken by ambulance to Los Robles Regional Medical Center where she was deemed in critical but stable condition in the early hours of Saturday morning.
As Solis’s family was informed of the incident, a gofundme page was setup by Solis’s sister, Vanessa Hernandez. As of 5 p.m. on Feb. 11, the campaign has already raised $35,000 by 485 donors. Hernandez issued an update regarding Solis’s injuries on Feb. 10 specifying a brain bleed, broken right and left ribs, broken collar bone, punctures in both lungs and a broken jaw.
Alongside a gofundme page, TOHS has organized a meal train to provide Solis’s family with gift cards and meals in the time of need. As of Feb. 11, individuals have already signed up to provide for the family through Apr. 1.
“In the year that I have been on the TOHS campus, I have never been quite so proud as I have been since mid-November.” principal Dr. Eric Bergmann said, “We keep getting punched in the mouth, knocked down, but we keep helping one another stand up. That is the core of being a part of the Lancer community. We are in this together–staff and students–it is us against the world.”
To visit the GoFundMe page, click HERE.
To visit the MealTrain page, click HERE.
