Charges have been filed against the three men who were arrested in connection with the multiple stabbings that occurred on State Street on August 1, Santa Barbara County District Attorney John Savrnoch announced on Tuesday.
The defendants, 28-year-old Juan Fernando Rios, 30-year-old Sergio Rivas, and 29-year-old Luis Gerargo Terrazas, were arrested over the weekend for their alleged involvement in the early Friday morning stabbings, which resulted in one victim’s death and landed two others in the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
The incident occurred on the 500 block of State Street just after midnight. Police were on foot patrol for Fiesta activities when they were flagged down by a passerby who reported several people fighting and a man brandishing a knife.
“Officers were already in the process of assisting an intoxicated subject nearby but immediately broke away to respond to the stabbing,” the Santa Barbara Police Department stated in a press release Tuesday.
When officers arrived on scene, one victim approached them with visible injuries to his torso. Witnesses then pointed officers to another victim who collapsed on the ground in front of them, also with stab wounds to his torso. A third victim with similar injuries was later found nearby as police searched the area.
According to the SBPD, officers rendered emergency aid to all victims before they were transported via ambulance to Cottage Hospital. Despite lifesaving efforts, victim Anthony Bisquera-Hartley, a father of three young children, succumbed to his injuries at the hospital. His family has set up a GoFundMe to cover his burial costs and other expenses, which at the time of this writing has raised $38,000 of its $40,000 goal.
“If you knew Anthony, you knew him as a goofy, easy going guy,” writes the GoFundMe’s organizer, Monique LaMarca, who identifies herself as Bisquera-Hartley’s sister. “This unexpected loss has our family reeling.”
One of the other hospitalized victims was identified only as “J. Ramos” while the other victim’s identity has not been released.
The SBPD reported that immediately after the stabbing detectives began their investigation and uncovered evidence such as knives, clothing, and blood samples while searching for additional victims and suspects.
Authorities said that the investigators started making arrests “within hours.”
The first arrest was Luis Gerardo Terrazas, who was injured in the stabbings and arrested at the hospital for his involvement. Over the weekend, which was otherwise characterized by Fiesta festivities, detectives identified and arrested additional suspects Juan Fernando Rios and Sergio Rivas.
At the time of his arrest, Rivas was allegedly in possession of a handgun, loaded magazines, and cocaine. All three were booked into Santa Barbara County jail and are being held on multimillion-dollar bails.
Rivas faces the most charges, including the murder of Anthony Bisquera-Hartley with special allegations of committing the crime “to benefit a criminal street gang and personal use of a knife.” He is also charged with assault with a deadly weapon against victim J. Ramos, gang allegations, and causing great bodily injury. He’s facing additional drug- and firearm-related charges as well, including being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.
Rivas, who is listed as a bartender in custody records, served a three-year sentence for second-degree robbery in 2017, records show. As a condition of his sentence, Rivas was registered as a gang member.
Rios likewise has an extensive criminal history in Santa Barbara, including his involvement in a separate stabbing of three people on lower State Street in 2018. He was sentenced to four years in prison and was required to register as a gang member. He is now also being charged with Bisquera-Hartley’s murder to benefit a criminal street gang, personal use of a knife, and committing a felony while out on bail for a felony offense. He additionally faces several firearm-related charges in connection with a separate arrest on July 26, 2025, including being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition and carrying a loaded firearm in public.
Terrazas is being charged with the attempted murder of co-defendant Sergio Rivas, with the special allegation of committing the crime to benefit a criminal street gang and the personal use of a knife.
All three defendants were arraigned in Department 8 of the Santa Barbara Superior Court on Tuesday, August 5.
