Police blotter

Embezzlement, fighting, outstanding warrants and more in today's police blotter.

July 22, 5:20 p.m. — A regional manager for Petco called authorities to report the store manager of the company’s 19 S. Milpas St. location had been stealing money. After being questioned by police, the 25-year-old Camarillo resident admitted to seven fraudulent transactions between June 21 and July 21 for a total of $1,917.24.
As the manager, he explained, he had the authority to perform returns. He apparently made up original sales dates, clerk numbers and transaction numbers, and entered item codes from the store. He admitted to either withdrawing cash from the register or placing the return amount on his credit card. Police booked the man in lieu of $20,000 bail for fraud.

July 23, 1:48 a.m. — Reports of a fight in progress brought police to the intersection of State and Cota streets. Several people on the corner, including the victims, told officers the suspects were fleeing the scene and pointed to a vehicle traveling north.
After stopping the car near Ortega Street, authorities pieced together the early morning events. Inside the car, they found a 24-year-old Santa Barbara man who allegedly had grabbed a woman’s breast and rubbed her inner thigh. Authorities booked him on a $25,000 bond for sexual battery.
Another man apparently tried to intervene during the sexual assault and was attacked by two other men found in the car. The two suspects, a 21-year-old and a 23-year-old from Boise, Idaho, who are apparently related, had punched and kicked the man. Their actions resulted in a trip to jail in lieu of $2,500 bail for battery.

July 23, 5:49 p.m. — Police spotted a man riding a racing bike west on Cabrillo Boulevard at a high rate of speed. After noticing the bicyclist had headphones over his ears and watching as he ran red lights at Milpas Street and Calle Puerta Vallarta despite heavy vehicle, bicycle and pedestrian traffic in the area, authorities attempted to stop the man for reckless driving.
Once police hit their lights and sirens, however, the suspect attempted to evade them by riding into a hotel complex at 600 E. Cabrillo Blvd. Officers tracked the 25-year-old Santa Barbara resident to the rear of the property, where they found him hiding behind a storage dumpster. Authorities booked him in lieu of $2,500 bail for evading and reckless driving.

July 23, 11:15 p.m. — An officer conducting a perimeter check of the Cabrillo Ball Field found a 50-year-old man on the site. The man offered up his name, then immediately told police, “Don’t run me, I have warrants.” Sure enough, a warrant check revealed two local warrants for a total of $3,000 — one for disturbing the peace, another for a probation violation. Authorities arrested and booked the man for the warrants.