Two Arrested on Meth Charges
Foot Pursuit Ends in Albertsons Parking Lot With Assistance of Off-Duty Police Chief
The sighting of a wanted subject by Santa Barbara Police on September 4 ultimately resulted in a brief chase on foot and two arrests on meth-related charges. According to police reports, officers were patrolling the 1900 block of Cliff Drive around 8:30 p.m. when they recognized Antonio Mendoza Montano, 38, as being wanted. Police approached a car that Montano had just entered and took him into custody without incident. However, the car’s other passenger – later identified to be Aurelio Gonzales Vasquez – attempted to flee after being asked to step out for questioning. Police pursued Vasquez, according to the report, to the parking lot of the Albertsons grocery store at 2010 Cliff Drive, where an off-duty Police Chief Cam Sanchez saw the incident and helped take Vasquez into custody.
Montano was booked into Santa Barbara County Jail on charges of transporting methamphetamines and possessing them with intent to sell. Vasquez was arrested on these two charges as well as resisting officers and a parole violation. As search of Vasquez’s vehicle reportedly also yielded two ounces of meth. A subsequent search of a home on the 1500 block of San Pascual Street yielded an additional ounce. The report of this incident, which was submitted by police spokesperson Sgt. Lorenzo Duarte, did not identify whether the house was the residence of the one or both of the two people arrested.
