April 6
Suicide attempt after family tiff
At 5:58 p.m. a deputy responded to a report of a suicidal subject. He arrived at a home in Santa Ynez and found a woman, 42, who said she swallowed 30 sleeping pills because she no longer wanted to live. Fire and medics arrived and transported her to Santa Ynez Valley Cottage Hospital. A medic told the deputy the woman had injuries to her head and back. The deputy spoke to the woman at the hospital. She told him the injuries were from her daughter. She said that earlier in the day, the two got into an argument over finances at El Rancho Market. She stated the daughter left her there to walk home. She said the argument continued when she returned home and that the daughter began pushing her and hitting her with a broom several times. She said she was tired of the “constant” abuse and took the pills to “just go to sleep and never wake up.” She said her daughter had a violent temper and requested charges be filed against her. On April 10, the deputy contacted the daughter, whose story matched the mother’s – up until the part when the mother returned home. The daughter said her mother began yelling and threw her groceries before ingesting the pills. She said she attempted the Heimlich maneuver, to no avail. She said the mother fell to the floor and struck her head during the choking-rescue attempt. She told the deputy she asked her sister to call 911 and left because she suffers from severe anxiety, but admitted she made a “poor decision.” The sister said she was in her bedroom and did not hear or see the alleged fight. She said before the deputy’s arrival, her sister instructed her to call emergency services. The deputy informed the accused that he was sending the report to the District Attorney’s office for review.
April 10
Party’s over
At 3 a.m. a deputy responded to a report of a loud party. The reporting party complained of loud music coming from an apartment. Upon arrival, the deputy spotted three people standing on the lawn before they rushed into the apartment and closed the door. He approached the complex and heard the music within 15 feet of the property. He knocked on the door and announced himself as a sheriff’s deputy. A lone male voice from inside replied, “I’m not opening the door.” Less than a minute later the resident, a 24-year-old male from Buellton, opened the door and agreed to get his identification, but he told the deputy “You can’t come in my house.” The deputy smelled alcohol and noticed the man had glassy eyes, droopy eyelids, and slurred speech. The man was also swaying in the doorway. The man started closing the door and the deputy put his foot into the doorjamb to stop him. The man began screaming at him and tried to slam the door. The deputy tried to control him by grabbing his wrist and the man fell backward, pulling the deputy inside. A 25-year-old female of Solvang ran downstairs and yelled at the deputy. He pushed her away and ordered her to stay back. As the deputy started handcuffing the man, he felt the arm of another man, a 30-year-old male from Solvang, pull him from behind. He deployed his Taser and fired two darts into the friend’s upper chest, causing him to release his grip and step away from the doorway. He arrested the friend who said he “was only trying to help my friend who was attacked in his own home.” As the deputy placed the man in the back of his patrol car, the resident and the woman returned inside the apartment. A fourth person, who said he was in the bathroom during the altercation, came out of the apartment and asked the deputy why his friend had been arrested. The deputy questioned the man and secured him in the patrol car while he attempted to contact the others inside. Three more deputies and two CHP officers arrived on the scene. After several warnings to open the door, a deputy eventually broke a window to enter and unlocked the front door. Law enforcement personnel entered and found the resident, the woman and another female, in the upstairs loft. The man and woman were arrested and the third person, who claimed she hadn’t heard the commotion downstairs, was escorted out of the apartment. She, along with the other man who was secured in the patrol car, was released. The others got a tour of the county jail. The two men faced charges for battery on a peace officer and obstructing, delaying and resisting arrest. The woman could be charged with obstructing, delaying and resisting an arrest.
April 11
Arrested on the job
At 11:58 a deputy responded to a lodge in Solvang about a report of an apparent prostitute refusing to leave a unit. He arrived and found a visibly upset property manager who said she got into an argument with a woman whom she believed was a prostitute. She added that she rented the room out to a man, 35, of Visalia, in exchange for repair work to the motel. She said he never completed the job and never paid the bill. The deputy arrived shortly after the man left. The manager encountered the woman when she went to clean the room and said the argument ensued after she confronted the 27-year-old woman about why she was there. She told the woman she was not a registered guest and that the man she was with had not paid for the room. The woman still refused to leave, even after the manager threatened to have her arrested for trespassing. The deputy found the woman, still in the room, sitting in a chair with a small dog on her lap. He noted that she refused to provide identification and answer questions. She said the man was a “friend from Fresno” whom she met at the Chumash Casino. She told the deputy he left to get a haircut and repeatedly stated she had done nothing wrong. A second deputy arrived who assisted with a search of the room, which yielded a methamphetamine pipe, cotton swabs, lighters, numerous condoms, open beer cans, lingerie, and a portable dog house and dog toys (the only things she acknowledged were hers). The deputy found a phone that received “numerous” text messages from men inquiring about or following up on apparent sexual services. The deputy found a bag with the woman’s wallet inside the open pocket. She admitted the bag belonged to her, but not some of its belongings, including 2 MDMA (ecstasy) tablets, a bag of meth, a jar containing rolling papers and a marijuana cigarette. The woman said she had no clue how the items ended up in her bag. A computer criminal check showed that she had an extensive criminal history and a non-extraditable arrest warrant issued in Florida. The deputy arrested the woman, who still denied the drugs and drug paraphernalia belonged to her and that she was working as a prostitute. The deputy advised the property owner to call him if the man returned. En route to the main jail where she was booked, the woman repeatedly kicked the metal barricade inside the patrol car, cursed and prayed for the deputy to die, called him several racial epithets, and promised to sue the Sherriff’s Department after accusing him of “touching her inappropriately.” The dog was picked up by Animal Services.
April 13
Lead-footed driver
At 3:50 p.m. deputies responded to a report of a drunken driver who crashed into the porch of a mobile home in Solvang. When the deputy arrived, he saw that a truck had struck and caused moderate damage to the stairs leading to the porch of the residence. The truck had moderate damage: the front passenger side of the bumper and fender were dented and the front passenger side tire was flat. The deputy contacted the driver, 55, of Solvang, who exited the driver’s side door and was fumbling with his cell phone. When the deputy asked him for his driver’s license, the man, who smelled of alcohol, handed him his business card. The driver said he hadn’t had any alcohol but admitted that he took medication for anxiety and stress. He also told the deputy he doesn’t sleep and last ate at 8 a.m. A breathalyzer test revealed that the man had a .32 blood-alcohol level. He also nearly fell during a field sobriety test. A DMV computer check showed that the man’s license had been suspended. He was booked into county jail, and his truck was towed to a nearby commercial lot.
Fraud from afar
A 26-year-old female of Santa Ynez reported fraudulent use of her credit card. On April 4, she was called by her bank who notified her that there were suspicious credit card charges on her account. They contacted her again on April 13 regarding three additional suspicious charges totaling nearly $5,000 and made in Leipzig, Germany. She told deputies she still had her credit card and only made purchases with Expedia.com and a car rental business in Lompoc. The case was suspended, pending leads.
April 14
License to ill
A vehicle heading east on Highway 246 was stopped for an obstructed license plate. The deputy contacted the driver, a 42-year-old woman from Oxnard, who could not provide a driver’s license, proof of insurance, or registration. She told the deputy she had just driven to pick up a friend at the Chumash Casino and forgot to bring her purse. When the deputy asked her to write her name and date of birth on a notepad, he noticed a purse in the rear seat. He asked if it belonged to her, and she responded with a confused look before admitting it was hers. The woman said she forgot she brought it with her. She retrieved a California driver’s license from the purse and handed it to the deputy, who noted that it “vaguely resembled her.” Moreover, the weight and height did not match her description. He suspected she was providing him with a fake identification card and asked her to exit her car. He also asked the female passenger, 43 of Oxnard, if he could search her. She consented but asked to remove her jacket. He still searched the jacket and found 10 California identification cards and two Mexican consular cards inside the side pocket. None belonged to the passenger. He also found 100 tablets of Ambien in a plastic bag, 27 Chumash Casino player cards, and paperwork with names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers in the outer pocket of her purse. He searched the driver’s purse and found an identification card, two casino cards and a prescription for an anti-depressant. He asked the driver what her real name was. He was still unable to identify her and arrested her. He asked the passenger about the things he found in her jacket. She said she was prescribed the Ambien pills but was unable to locate the prescription. She said she found the identification cards but could not say from where. Her story changed after she was arrested for possessing medication without a prescription. She gave the deputy her real name and date of birth and said her license was expired. She also admitted she knowingly handed him her cousin’s because she did not want her car taken away. She said the identification cards and the paperwork weren’t hers, and that the driver asked her to hide them just before she was pulled over. He confronted the driver about this and she responded, “Whatever she said is fine.” He took the driver to the Solvang Sheriff’s substation where he learned that she had a warrant for her arrest. She was eventually booked into county jail and her car was towed to a nearby commercial lot. On April 14, the deputy confirmed that the 10 licenses were valid but none of the individuals they belonged to filed a report to the Oxnard Police Department.