SBPDPIO
In December 2023, five downtown businesses were burglarized within a two-week period. The suspect, later identified as 45-year-old Porfirio Soriano Mendez of Santa Barbara, appeared to have forced entry into the business and had taken multiple items of property.
As Santa Barbara Police detectives investigated these cases, they learned that Mendez was believed to be the suspect involved. Detectives wrote an arrest and search warrant for Mendez that a judge authorized.
On January 18, 2024, a SBPD patrol officer attempted to contact Mendez in the 300-east block of Carrillo Street. Mendez fled on foot, and the officer gave chase. Officers set up a perimeter and located Mendez near an apartment complex in the 1000 block of Olive Street, where he was arrested without further incident.
Mendez was out on bail for committing a series of other burglaries and battery on a peace officer. Mendez was transported to the Santa Barbara County jail and booked for the five previous burglaries as well as resisting/fleeing an officer, possession of a controlled substance, and possession of burglary tools. His bail was set at $250,000 after a judge approved a bail increase.
If you believe your business might have been a victim of a burglary, please contact Detective Peterson at 805-897-2327 or bpeterson@sbpd.com.
Wanna be a cop? I don’t.
Thankfully we have them. Few can handle this type of stuff and other things most folks never hear about, day in and day out. Next time you see a local cop, say thank you for your service, hello, or at least just smile. They’re real people with real difficult jobs.
go check out the thread hating on SBPD for doing their job @ Paseo Nuevo the other day. pretty sad that so many locals want to bash our security and PD for doing their jobs. so many of them pretending to know more, know better, and have all of the details at hand. betcha they say otherwise when its them that needs help.
Was this connected to the Paseo Nuevo post? Seems like it was on the same day.
https://www.edhat.com/news/police-with-guns-drawn-in-paseo-nuevo/