Monday, June 30, 2008

Gunman arrested on Westside

BY ERIC LINDBERG
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

Santa Barbara police arrested a 20-year-old man on Sunday who allegedly brandished a handgun as he attempted to steal cigarettes from a group of people, authorities said.
At approximately 7:30 p.m., police received reports of a man wielding a gun in a parking lot at 930 San Pascual St., Sgt. Lorenzo Duarte said.

Upon arrival, officers spotted the suspect, identified later as 20-year-old Damian Nolasco, flee on foot after jumping a fence.
Police quickly tracked down the suspect in an adjacent apartment complex, Sgt. Duarte said, taking him into custody after he ultimately complied with orders to stop.
An investigation revealed Nolasco had approached three people and demanded their cigarettes, authorities said. When they said they didn’t have any cigarettes, the suspect pulled out a handgun, “worked the slide,” and pointed it at one of the victims, Sgt. Duarte said.
The group of victims fought with Nolasco over the gun and ultimately wrestling it from his control, at which point the 20-year-old fled. Officers noted the 9 mm handgun was loaded.
Police booked Nolasco into County Jail for attempted robbery and assault with a deadly weapon.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh yeah we got a handle on the gang problem here for sure. It's all those youth programs the City Council loves to throw our money at to appear to be doing something you know. Or maybe it's that we just call them Latinos now instead of illegals or gang members - that solves the problem. Meanwhile it has escalated to guns now instead of harmless objects like baseball bats and knives. Has anyone heard about the gunshot victim behind K Mart last evening? Noozhawk hasn't. Thank God for the Daily Sound and our excellent Police force. They haven't printed the Latino last names yet of the suspects yet because they are still "alleged".
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Anonymous said...

Wow, that was fast of you to assume that this incident was gang related because the suspect has a hispanic last name. Open your mind and know the facts before immediately passing judgement on a situation.

ardvarck said...

" . . . harmless objects like baseball bats and knives . . ."

Harmless? Though I've never been on the receiving end of either, neither strikes me as harmless.