Santa Barbara Police Station
Paul Wellman

The Santa Barbara Independent’s crime blotter comes from a collection of arrest reports made available to the media by the SBPD. It’s a roundup of notable crimes and arrests that occurred in the City of Santa Barbara over the past week. The following narratives are provided by responding officers, and the names of suspects have been omitted because they have been arrested but not convicted of any crimes.

1/29, 8:15 p.m., N. Milpas Street: A man attempted to steal beer from an area grocery store and got into a physical altercation with the store clerk and two other men. The clerk said that the suspect “had stolen beer on a previous occasion” but, “he did not want to call police previously because the suspect was a [gang member.]” The report noted that the suspect had numerous gang tattoos on his head and in 2008 he was indicted on federal racketeering charges.

1/30, 7:16 p.m., 7 W. Haley Street: A plain clothes officer working on State Street became suspicious of a man who he believed was selling marijuana. According to the report, the officer asked the man, “Dude, you know where I can buy some weed?” The man responded that “he had some, 20 bucks for a dub.” The suspect then escorted the officer behind Whiskey Richard’s bar where he weighed the marijuana with a handheld scale and said ,“Look at that. Perfect. I’ve been doing this for too long.” The officer handed the man a $20 bill to complete the transaction, and then arrested him.

1/31, 9:00 p.m., 129 Anapamu Street: A man was arrested for a robbery that occurred on 1/26. The man reportedly took jeans and polo shirts from Macy’s and “knelt behind a pillar where he concealed them.” The action was observed by a Macy’s employee on closed circuit television. When a loss prevention specialist blocked the man from leaving the store the man assaulted him and fled the scene but left behind his baseball cap and sunglasses. An SBPD officer received several anonymous tips as to the identity of the suspect and checked his Facebook page which displayed pictures of him in the sunglasses and baseball cap that were left at the scene. During an interview the man admitted to the Macy’s robbery.

2/1, 6:23 p.m., 1020 E. Montecito Street: Officers found a “fraudulent” Social Security card during the search of a man under arrest for domestic battery. According to the report, the man admitted that “he’d been deported in 2005 and purchased the card so that he would not be recognized as a previously deported person.”

2/1, 11:07 p.m., 518 W. Canon Perdido Road: After being warned on 1/31 by SBPD officers and private security personnel not to trespass on a private parking lot, a man was arrested for attempting to sleep in his ex-girlfriend’s inoperable vehicle.

2/1, 2:46 a.m., City Lot #10: A man “walked away from the sobering center so intoxicated that he urinated himself without knowing it.” He was charged with public intoxication.

2/2, 1:25 a.m., 400 State Street: A man carrying a concealed baton and methamphetamine was arrested in the early morning on State Street.

2/3, 9:02 p.m., 519 De La Vina Street: Two men allegedly pulled a man “out of his living room where he was lying and started to punch him.” A witness told police that “he saw the suspects kick the victim in the face.” The suspects were identified and arrested.

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