On Friday, 24-year-old Santa Barbara man Samuel Ingram was arrested after he allegedly stole a vehicle, attempted to ram a police officer, broke into one home, and tried to enter a second, sparking a police pursuit.
At about 5:30 a.m., Santa Barbara Police responded to a report of a stolen vehicle from the 800 block of Cliff Drive, around Santa Barbara City College’s campus. Ingram had allegedly stolen the older model Ford Expedition, which was left unlocked with the keys inside. Fifteen minutes later on the Eastside, an SBPD officer found Ingram in the missing vehicle on Milpas Street just above the roundabout.
When the officer approached, Ingram reportedly attempted, unsuccessfully, to ram the officer who had spotted him with the stolen SUV. The SBPD officer — who had maneuvered out of the line of impact — was left behind uninjured as Ingram fled from the scene, hitting a parked car along the way, according to authorities.
Meanwhile, an unsuspecting woman was parked in the neighborhood near the intersection of Gutierrez Street and Alameda Padre Serra. Police say that Ingram then approached her vehicle, holding what at first appeared to be a gun but turned out to be his cellphone. Ingram made an effort to steal the vehicle, according to police, but the woman was able to drive away unscathed, and immediately reported it to the police.
With SBPD officers on the hunt, Ingram then allegedly broke into a house on the 900 block of Cabrillo Road, about a mile away from his second attempt at grand theft auto. He left the residence and proceeded to try to break into another house down the road on the 1000 block of Canon Perdido Street, according to police, abandoning the Ford Expedition near Alisos Street. Officers caught up to Ingram, and after a brief de-escalating interaction, he surrendered without the use of force. Officers took the suspect into police custody without any injuries to him, any of the seven responding officers, or members of the public.
This wasn’t Ingram’s first run-in with the law — in December 2024 and January 2025, he was charged with felony and criminal misdemeanors, including possession of a concealed knife, threat “with intent to terrorize,” and taking a vehicle without consent, among others, all of which he pleaded not guilty to.
In each case, Ingram was granted a deferred entry of judgement as long as he complied with a mental health diversion plan, which he had been until Friday. Ingram had reported to court every month since January 2025 for mental health diversion reviews, and last appeared in court on May 19, in front of Judge Clifford R. Anderson III, who had continued his diversion plan.
Ingram is being held at the county’s Main Jail on $100,000 bail. He was set to appear in court for a violation of his diversion plan on Tuesday morning in front of Judge Thomas Adams.
