Friday, October 10, 2008

Police blotter

DAILY SOUND STAFF REPORT

Oct. 5, 9:30 a.m. — Officers arrived at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital for a possible assault investigation to find a 34-year-old man with injuries to his head and legs. The man told police he had been walking north on Bath Street earlier that morning when he spotted several subjects nearby.

Although his memory was fuzzy — he admitted he had been drinking — the victim said he believes he might have said something to possibly provoke the assault. He also told authorities his attackers used a baseball bat or similar object to hit him in the head, although he couldn’t be sure.
After the assault, the victim went to a nearby relative’s home in the 800 block of Bath Street. Family members transported the 34-year-old to the hospital.

Oct. 6, 4:30 p.m. — A 59-year-old Santa Barbara man took a motorcycle he believed had been abandoned on the street, but returned it after learning it had been reported stolen. The man spotted the motorcycle parked in the 2000 block of Monterey Street and said he believed it was abandoned due to its condition and proximity to a large pile of trash on the sidewalk.
After taking it to his nearby home, the man returned a short time later to ask residents who owned the motorcycle. He learned it had been reported stolen and police were on the lookout.
He returned the bike to where he found it and called authorities to let them know it had been returned. Police responded to the scene and took the 59-year-old into custody for grand theft auto. Officers noted the man has no criminal history of theft.

Oct. 6, 6:40 p.m. — Police officers on patrol at the Santa Barbara Bowl during a concert took a suspect into custody after security found suspected drugs on him during their screening process. While searching concertgoers as they entered the venue, guards stopped a 42-year-old Santa Barbara man after finding a baggie of white powder and a straw in his pack of cigarettes.
Officers on the scene initially suspected the powder of being cocaine, but the suspect later admitted at the police station that the substance was methamphetamine. He said he uses the straw to inhale the drugs through his nose and admitted to using meth earlier that day.
Police booked the suspect in lieu of $10,000 bail for possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia, in addition to being under the influence.

Oct. 7, 10:25 p.m. — A woman called police after catching a nude prowler snooping near her bedroom window in the backyard of her home in the 1400 block of Bath Street. She told officers she had been lying in bed with the lights on for approximately an hour as she talked on her cell phone.
She said she heard rustling near her side yard, but didn’t initially think much of it until she heard more noise near her bedroom window. When she walked over and turned on the outdoor lights, she told officers she saw a man bending over and reaching for his shorts.
As she began yelling at the prowler, described as approximately 20 years of age, he managed to pull up his shorts and run out of the yard. Another witness also saw the man jump over the backyard fence, but by the time police arrived, he had made his escape.

Oct. 8, 9:27 p.m. — An officer on patrol along State Street spotted a known parolee near the first block of E. Haley Street and approached him to talk. The man ducked into a restaurant in an apparent attempt to avoid the officer, but police tracked him down at the back door of the establishment.
Officers immediately noticed the man had been drinking, noting an odor of alcohol and bloodshot eyes. After calling the suspect’s parole officer, officers checked his eyes and pulse and discovered symptoms of being under the influence of a controlled substance.
The suspect admitted he had smoked methamphetamine several days earlier. A search revealed a Fentanyl patch and a hypodermic needle in his pocket. He told police a friend had given him the patch, a powerful synthetic painkiller more potent than morphine.
The suspect provided a urine sample, which tested positive for amphetamines, opiates and benzodiazepines. Officers arrested the 38-year-old for possession of narcotics and a hypodermic needle, booking him without bail due to a parole hold.

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