Man Stabbed Wednesday Night in 4th of July Fight

Malik Dion Harris-Ellis was arrested early Thursday morning after he allegedly stabbed a drunk man on July 4th. He’s booked in Santa Barbara County Jail for felony assault with a deadly weapon, and his bail is $30,000.

According to S.B. Police Department spokesperson Sgt. Riley Harwood, officers responded at 11:48 p.m. to an assault in the 500 block of Olive Street. They found the victim, 21-year-old Cody James Fairfax-Castleberry, on the sidewalk with a serious stab wound to the right side of his chest. He was treated at the scene then transported to Cottage Hospital where he underwent emergency surgery. Harwood said he’s now recovering.

Witnesses told police that Ellis, 19, had been at a party outside an apartment complex at 422 East Cota Street when a highly intoxicated Castleberry showed up and challenged him to a fight. The two acquaintances, both Santa Barbara residents, started tussling, “characterized by moments where Ellis would dodge punches thrown by Castleberry and even run away, only to be followed by Castleberry who was intent on fighting,” said Harwood in a press release.

Ellis, witnesses told police, eventually went into a house at 510 Olive Street — where he knows a few of the residents — and grabbed a kitchen knife. He confronted Castleberry outside and, after dodging another punch, stabbed him. As he fled, said Harwood, Ellis discarded the knife.

At 5:10 a.m. the next morning, detectives tracked Ellis down to his residence at 25 Broadmoor Plaza and arrested him. A few hours later they found the knife on the roof of a building in the 500 block of East Cota Street.