Santa Barbara Man Arrested After Early-Morning Multi-Block Crime Spree

Overview

• A 25-year-old Santa Barbara resident is in custody after a series of incidents that began with a reported stolen vehicle around 5:30 a.m. Friday and moved across several neighborhoods.
• Officers located the stolen car about 15 minutes later on North Milpas Street when the driver allegedly accelerated toward an officer, missed, and struck a parked vehicle while the officer avoided injury.
• The suspect then allegedly attempted a carjacking near Salinas and Gutierrez by pointing a cell phone to mimic a gun, and the targeted driver escaped and called police.
• Calls to police reported the man forced entry into a home on the 900 block of East Carrillo Street and tried to force entry into a second home on East Canon Perdido before officers found him and secured his voluntary surrender.
• The suspect is being held for booking into Santa Barbara County Jail while investigators finalize charges, and the Santa Barbara Police Department says the incident is rare and there is no ongoing threat to the public.