Santa Barbara Police Arrest Suspect Wielding Broken Bottle

A Santa Barbara Police officer deployed one less-lethal beanbag projectile to subdue and arrest a suspect who was brandishing a broken glass bottle in a menacing fashion toward officers and members of the public on Monday.

Officers initially responded to State Street and Cabrillo Boulevard for a report that 39-year-old Dennis Ray Powell, who was reported missing, appeared to be suffering from paranoia and was asking community members for a gun. When the officers approached Powell to communicate, he reached into the trash and removed a large bottle that they purposely broke on a tree to use as a weapon. 

Despite officers giving numerous requests to drop the bottle, Powell fled and brandished the weapon at several members of the public walking on the bike path on Cabrillo Boulevard and forcefully struck the closed window of an occupied vehicle with the serrated portions of the bottle. 

At this point the officers worried that he would seriously injure a member of the public if not detained, so one officer struck Powell with the less-lethal beanbag projectile. Powell was transported to Cottage Hospital for treatment from the less-lethal deployment. Pending booking charges are Assault with a Deadly Weapon, Vandalism, Resisting/Obstructing an Officer, and Brandishing a Weapon.

This case is currently under investigation. The Santa Barbara Police Department is requesting any other unidentified victims or witnesses to this crime, please call Santa Barbara Police Detectives at (805) 897-2347.

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