A week after two men were attacked on the 6600 block of Picasso Road in Isla Vista, Santa Barbara Sheriff Dept. detectives arrested five suspects Friday in connection with the crime.
Four men and one minor were arrested May 19 for allegedly stabbing a 16-year-old man several times and attacking another man near Children’s Park on Friday, May 12. Santa Barbara Sheriff Dept. Public Information Officer Sgt. Erik Raney said the stabbing victim was transported to the Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital for his wounds, and is still in the intensive care unit in critical condition. No information has been released about the other victim.
Raney said the five individuals arrested belong to a local I.V. gang, and include 20-year-old Oxnard resident Jaime Hernandez, who was booked in the Santa Barbara County Jail on $1 million bail for attempted murder. Also booked in jail were 19-year-old Michael Gomez, 20-year-old Pedro Constantino and 18-year-old Richard Hernandez, each with a $500,000 bail for assault with a deadly weapon.
The 16-year-old gang member was booked into Juvenile Hall for the same charges.
Because it was a suspected gang-related incident, detectives working on the investigation collaborated with the school resource deputies and the gang deputies to develop information on the subjects, Raney said. The detectives served a number of search and arrest warrants relating to the incident.
During the service of the warrants, a number of illegal items were seized, including a sawed-off shotgun, marijuana, drug paraphernalia and gang paraphernalia, he said.