Hot Wheels and Cold Beer
On Friday, Feb. 27 at 2:26 a.m., UCPD officers patrolling the 6500 block of Sabado Tarde Road observed a 20-year-old man standing between two vehicles. The subject looked in the direction of the patrol car, then quickly disappeared. The officers did not see where the man went, but they saw five unopened bottles of beer where he had been standing.
The officers circled the block, and upon returning found the subject placing the bottles into the trunk of a red Corvette. When officers attempted to contact the subject, he said he was going to a friend’s house and walked away. When the officers asked what he put in the car, he said, “Fine. If you want to give me an MIP, OK.”
The booze was confiscated from the vehicle, and the Santa Barbara City College student was cited for being a minor in possession of alcohol.
Dazed and Confused
On Saturday, Feb. 28 at 1:35 a.m., UCPD officers on patrol in Isla Vista observed a 20-year-old man staggering northbound on the sidewalk of Camino del Sur.
When police asked the subject where he was going, he responded with unintelligible slurred speech. Police then asked him how much he had to drink, to which he said, “Too much. I am drunk.”
The subject was placed under arrest for public intoxication and booked into the county jail.
I’ll Huff and I’ll Puff and I’ll… Owww! The Burning!
On Tuesday, March 2 at 6:59 p.m., Isla Vista Foot Patrol officers responded to a report of a 28-year-old man wearing a dark, hooded sweatshirt harassing women on the beach by the stairs at Camino Majorca and Del Playa Drive.
The officers found the suspect standing on the beach. The tide was so high that even though the man was standing against the cliff, the surf was breaking on him. The officers noticed that if the tide came up any further, the man would no longer be able to get to the stairs and would be in serious danger.
One officer approached the suspect while the other stood on the staircase and illuminated the man with a flashlight. The suspect did not react to the light at all. Officers noticed that he was swaying back and forth and did not respond to the waves that were hitting him.
When the officer contacted the man, he made no verbal response and stared at the officer blankly. He then put his right hand into his pants pocket. The officer yelled in both English and Spanish for the man to raise both his hands.
When the suspect continued to remove something from his pocket, the officer on the staircase drew his gun and aimed it at the man. The officer on the beach pepper-sprayed the suspect and took him to the ground. The officer on the stairs holstered his gun and went down to the beach to assist with the arrest.
One officer grabbed the man’s right hand in order to place him in handcuffs and noticed that the man was still holding something. The officer hit the suspect twice with his flashlight to make the man drop the object, which turned out to be his wallet.
After placing the suspect in handcuffs, the officers patted him down. They found a one-quart can of lacquer thinner in the front pocket of his sweatshirt. The can was open and the contents were pouring out on the man. The officers also found several small pieces of terry cloth on the suspect. Both the can and the cloth pieces were destroyed at the scene.
The suspect was taken back to the IVFP station, where officers helped the man rinse the pepper spray off his face with cold water. After several minutes of washing his face, the man started to talk and was able to answer questions. The officers then recognized the man from a prior arrest for inhalants.
The man was arrested for being under the influence of an inhalant and for possession of an inhalant and booked into the county jail.
