Two individuals were arrested on Thursday morning, suspected of residential burglary in the Cuyama evacuation zone for the Foothill Fire. The fire — which started on May 19 and had burned more than 900 acres as of Thursday morning — caused the evacuation of roughly five dozen people from the Cuyama Valley, and law enforcement increased its patrols of the area to safeguard homes and property.
After a call came in about a burglary in progress, deputies from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office and officers with the California Highway Patrol found a residence’s unattached garage on Schaeffer Road had been entered, as well as copper wiring disturbed at the home’s water well. As the officers searched the area, they located Bridget Jessica Martinez, 34, and a little later Juan Carlos Rodriguez, 39, with copper wiring, burglary tools, and narcotics paraphernalia, the Sheriff’s Office reported. They were arrested and booked into the North County jail. Both are from Taft, a small town about 30 miles north of Cuyama.
