Busy Weekend for SB Cops

Santa Barbara police had an active weekend, this time dealing with theft, drug possession counterfeit money and more.

Early Saturday morning, during a routine check of Madison’s on State Street, police officers found two men Jeffrey Alvarado, 21, and Jesse Perez, 27 allegedly doing cocaine in the bathroom. They were arrested.

Saturday night, Aaron Marcellino, 21, was arrested for allegedly stealing a surfboard from a carport in the 2100 block of Castillo Street two weeks prior. A neighbor had witnessed Marcellino allegedly taking the surfboard, and Saturday saw his vehicle parked nearby. The neighbor told the victim, who, along with friends, confronted Marcellino. Police found the surfboard in the garage of Marcellino, who told police he felt “the owner apparently did not care about the surfboard because he did not go through the trouble of locking it up.” Marcellino was booked for grand theft.

And last, but not least, Saturday night, just before 11 p.m., police arrested two men who allegedly tried to pass counterfeit money at the Study Hall on lower State Street. According to police, William Shafer, 25, of Las Vegas, gave the Study Hall bartender a $50 bill for three Coronas beers. The bartender held the bill under a U.V. lamp, which showed that it was actually a $5 bill. Shafer denied knowing the bill was fake, and paid with real money. He asked the bartender to return the $50, but he was denied. The three left shortly after, and the bartender called police, who tracked down the men three blocks down. Shafer told police he received the fake from a gas station as change, but police found five more counterfeit $50 bills in the shoes of Shafer’s cohort, Cameron Funkhauser, 29, of Ventura. Shafer was arrested for passing counterfeit currency while Funkhauser was arrested for possession of counterfeit currency. The third man was questioned and let go, and the U.S. Secret Service was also alerted about the situation.