Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Police on lookout for armed suspect

BY ERIC LINDBERG
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

Santa Barbara police are on the lookout for a man who allegedly pulled a gun on unarmed officers during a routine probation search Monday afternoon and escaped with illicit drugs.
Authorities said Daniel Aguilar, 34, brandished a handgun at two county probation officers as they searched his girlfriend’s residence in the 200 block of S. Canada Street before leaving with a box of cocaine.

Sgt. Lorenzo Duarte, a police spokesman, said numerous officers and the department’s Special Weapons and Tactics Team conducted a lengthy search of the surrounding neighborhood but did not locate the suspect.
The incident began at approximately 6 p.m., when two uniformed probation officers visited the home of 30-year-old probationer Yvonne Mata in a mobile home park, authorities said.
After meeting Mata outside and entering the trailer, officers began their standard search and discovered marijuana and a locked metal box, Sgt. Duarte said.
Mata told the officers that her boyfriend, Aguilar, had the key to the container, police said. The 34-year-old arrived during the search and agreed to open the box, authorities said.
“Probation officers opened the box and realized it contained cocaine,” Sgt. Duarte said in a news release. “Aguilar immediately retrieved a handgun from his person and held probation officers at gunpoint inside the trailer.”
The officers continued speaking to the suspect and ultimately convinced him to leave, Sgt. Duarte said, adding that Aguilar took the cocaine with him as he left.
Police arrived on the scene shortly after being called by the probation officers and took Mata into custody for possession of a controlled substance for sale and probation violations.
As of yesterday afternoon, authorities were still looking for Aguilar. A $500,000 felony warrant is out for his arrest for assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer, false imprisonment, possession of a controlled substance for sale and possession of a handgun as a felon.
“Aguilar is considered armed and dangerous,” Sgt. Duarte said. “Anyone having information on Aguilar’s whereabouts is asked to contact authorities immediately.”

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