Police Nab Two for Home Invasion Robbery, Assault

Santa Barbara police have arrested two people in connection with a July 31 home invasion robbery, announced department spokesperson Sgt. Lorenzo Duarte on Monday. They are searching for two others.

The investigation began when a 23-year-old man living on the 100 block of Oceano Avenue told police that three men assaulted him in his home, stole $200 in cash and two ounces of marijuana, and fled. The victim told police that he knew one of the men from a previous interaction and had let them in, only to be beaten, sustaining injuries to his face, head, and leg. He was admitted to and later released from Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital.

The ensuing investigation prompted officers at 6:40 p.m. on August 1 to stop a car on the 200 block of Los Alamos Avenue, only a few blocks away from Oceano Avenue. That traffic stop resulted in the arrest of Gina Elizabeth Mead and Dominique Xavier Battle, both 20-year-old Santa Barbara residents. According to Duarte’s report of the matter, Mead had driven Battle to the victim’s residence. Once there, Battle met two other men and they entered the place.

Mead and Battle both were booked into Santa Barbara County Jail on charges of robbery, burglary, assault with a deadly weapon, and conspiracy. Duarte noted that police are still searching for two outstanding suspects, whom he described as both being black men.