Skateboarder attacked, stabbed

BY COLBY FRAZIER
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

A 22-year-old Santa Barbara man sustained two collapsed lungs and multiple stab wounds to his neck, face and back after being attacked while he and a friend were skateboarding on Tuesday morning.
According to Sgt. Lorenzo Duarte, a Santa Barbara police spokesman, the victim was on his way home from the skate park on Cabrillo Boulevard at 12:15 a.m. when he was attacked by a person on the 300 block of Rancheria St., about two blocks from his home.

Duarte said the victim was skateboarding with a friend, who told police he saw a man run from behind an apartment complex near where the assault occurred.
“After a few seconds, the witness noticed [his friend] was no longer behind him,” Duarte said. “The witness turned and saw [his friend] and the suspect in a fight.”
He said the victim then collapsed and the suspect ran away.
The victim and his friend traveled about two blocks to the 600 block of Freemont Place, where the victim’s stepfather was notified of the assault.
As of yesterday afternoon, Duarte said the victim was in stable condition in the intensive care unit at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital.
He said the motive for the assault is unknown and the incident is being investigated by the police department’s crimes against persons detectives.
Duarte said it has not been determined if the attack was gang related and noted that the police gang unit is not conducting the investigation.
“Whether you’re on one side of town or not, stabbings, attacks and assaults can happen for various reasons,” he said. “We don’t know why it happened.”