sbsheriff
Update by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office
June 14, 2022
Sheriff’s deputies have arrested three men and one woman for numerous violations including thefts of catalytic converters as the result of an assist from an attentive citizen. On Monday, June 13, 2022, at approximately 10:00 p.m., deputies assigned to the Goleta Valley Patrol Bureau were dispatched to a report of a possible catalytic converter theft that had just occurred in the 7300 block of Greensboro Dr. in the City of Goleta. Deputies arrived shortly thereafter and located the suspect vehicle fleeing the area.
Deputies conducted a traffic stop but the suspects failed to yield and drove at high speeds onto Southbound Highway 101. Deputies initiated a vehicle pursuit but later terminated it in the area of Highway 101 at La Cumbre Rd. due to safety concerns. Coastal Patrol Deputies in the City of Carpinteria located and reinitiated pursuit when the suspect vehicle entered their jurisdiction on the highway. Those deputies ended up terminating their pursuit as well due to the high speeds and safety concerns. As the suspects fled into Ventura County, the Sheriff’s Office requested assistance from the Ventura Police Department and the California Highway Patrol.
The suspect vehicle later collided with a fixed object in the area of Main Street and Figueroa Street in downtown Ventura and four suspects fled the vehicle. Deputies responded and with the assistance of the allied agencies, apprehended all suspects and transported them to the Santa Barbara County Main Jail for booking. During a search of the vehicle, deputies located over a half dozen catalytic converters and theft related tools.
Deputies booked Los Angeles residents 32-year-old Saul Tamayo, 37-year-old Wilber Rabanales, 32-year-old Pedro Martinez and 33-year-old Edith Godinez for violations of grand theft (felony), fleeing/eluding law enforcement (felony), hit and run (felony) and conspiracy (felony). Tamayo and Rabanales were also found to have outstanding warrants for their arrests. All subjects were booked at the Main Jail where Martinez and Godinez were later released without bail in compliance with the local court’s extension of Emergency Rule 4.
Police Pursuit ends in Ventura
By Scanner Andrew
10:05 p.m., June 13, 2022
Deputies are currently in pursuit of a suspect in Goleta.
SO wimped out at State and 101, discontinued at 100 mph. Want was cat converter theft. CHP trying to re-acquire, not in position yet. CHP giving it up with no visual. Units still Code 5 southbound. Citizen reports veh passed Garden at high speed. Likely headin’ to Oxnard. Now passing at Hot Springs, using center divide. No police units on it.
#toxicmasculinityanyone
Insane. Risking life and limb of oneself and others to steal car parts to sell for drug money. Tell me if I’m wrong here. Far poorer people in other countries would never do this, it’s not about money. It’s people that chose the druggie path, and then took the next step to the vandal-druggie path. Lots of bad choices.
It will be interesting to know which model cars were the source of these cat. converters, they look all different; can they be reinstalled on the original vehicles?
“Martinez and Godinez were later released without bail in compliance with the local court’s extension of Emergency Rule 4.”
Perhaps you’re right. This kind of choice has a lot to do with the perp’s fear of what being caught will mean to them personally and since they are back on the streets again they may well be doing it again this evening.
They didn’t “wimp out,” they made the smart decision to (attempt to) protect public safety. I appreciate decisions like this. A panicked person driving over 100 mph is a far greater risk the public than cat thefts.
All I can say is WTF is Emergency Rule 4 and WHY are these dip-shits walking???