City Hires Ventura Investigators for Scoles Case
Mesa Resident Claims Police Chief Improperly Detained Him
Santa Barbara City Administrator Jim Armstrong has hired a Ventura-based private investigation firm to look into allegations that Santa Barbara Police Chief Cam Sanchez violated the civil rights of Mesa resident Wayne Scoles, whom the chief had arrested after a verbal altercation on the Mesa last June. Sanchez alleged that Scoles – a Mesa activist known for his intense passion and loud voice – had threatened the chief physically after making several racial slurs about Sanchez’s ethnicity. Earlier this year, a Santa Barbara jury found Scoles not guilty on misdemeanor charges. He has since filed seven complaints with City Hall indicating his intention to sue on the grounds he was improperly detained and interrogated. Once such a complaint is filed, Armstrong explained, an internal investigation is automatic. Given that it involved the chief of police, he said, an outside entity was brought in.
