**This story will be updated as more information becomes available.**

A previously published Daily Nexus article regarding IVFP’s account of Andres Esteban Sanchez’s death can be found under “UCSB Student Andres Esteban Sanchez Passes Away Sunday Morning.”

Five students spoke during public forum at the Associated Students (A.S.) Senate meeting on Wednesday night to give witness testimonials of the events leading up to the death of second-year pre-biology major Andres “Andy” Esteban Sanchez on Sunday, Oct. 11.

At approximately 4:40 a.m., two Isla Vista Foot Patrol (IVFP) deputies responded to reports of a male subject on the 6700 block of Abrego Road running in the street screaming for help. Upon arrival, deputies were flagged down by a nearby witness who stated the male subject, later identified as UCSB student Andres “Andy” Esteban Sanchez, had a deep laceration on his right arm.

The five students, Areli Ariana, Ashley Baker, Jocelin Hernandez, Alejandra Melgoza and Marvin Ramirez, dialed 911 following an encounter with Sanchez near their residence. According to the students, first responders on the scene mishandled the situation, mistreating the victim and witnesses based on their race.

Santa Barbara City College student Marvin Ramirez said Sanchez ran up to him and Hernandez screaming “help!” while bleeding profusely from his right arm.

“He, like, ran into my arms and I didn’t even have a shirt on, and I felt him and he had a massive cut in his right arm and it was just gushing out blood, and it wasn’t dripping, it was literally flying and it was ridiculous,” Ramirez said. “I knew at the time that it was a matter of time, and we ran inside and tried to get a towel and we tried to take care of him.”

According to Ramirez, Sanchez was restless but was not violent toward the five witnesses.

“He was a little bit out of control due to the adrenaline, so he was running around from one apartment complex to another, but we attempted to stop him. We sat him down several times,” Ramirez said. “Though it seemed like he was violent, he didn’t do anything to us.”

Off-campus senator and second-year Chican@ studies and history of public policy double-major Alejandra Melgoza said she spoke with dispatch and “specifically requested” medical assistance, but was not taken seriously.

“I was the one who called dispatch and dispatch didn’t believe me,” Melgoza said. “When you have anyone who is pleading for help, saying that there is blood gushing out of a wound — when you have someone who is passed out in front of your doorstep with blood gushing out of a wound, I would expect dispatch to hear the screaming in the background.”

Fourth-year comparative literature and psychology double-major Areli Ariana said EMTs and paramedics who responded to the call displayed a lack of urgency.

“They literally acted like it was an inconvenience for them to do their job,” Ariana said. “We were yelling at them, and yes we were frantic, but who wouldn’t be if they were covered in blood.”

According to Ramirez, emergency personnel took a long time to arrive, and police officers and firefighters did not act urgently upon arriving at the scene.

“I was jumping in front of them and just full of blood and telling them to hurry up and they just walked out of the car,” Ramirez said. “When the firefighters got there they didn’t want to get blood on their suit, and I remember Jocelin screaming at them, ‘If I have blood on me, why can’t you get blood on you! Hurry up, we don’t have time!’”

Ariana said responders disregarded her and other witnesses’ attempts to explain the situation, but acknowledged a white male bystander who began speaking to them after police arrived.

“We’re all basically persons of color; there’s no doubt that we’re brown. He just completely bypassed everything we said,” Ariana said. “He didn’t acknowledge our presence — he didn’t recognize us. From the moment we started speaking he ignored us.”

According to Ariana, the deputies who responded treated Sanchez “brutally” without reason.

“While Jocelin and I were huddled over Andy, we were able to hold him down and to calm him down while the police officers came,” Ariana said. “When the police officers came, the first thing they did was to grab a baton and try to hold Andy down.”

Fourth-year film and media studies major Ashley Baker said the police officers involved in Sunday night’s incident were not held accountable for their “brutal” treatment of Sanchez.

“This is the third time in my life that I have witnessed one of my Latino brothers pass away and have it be completely erased the next morning,” Baker said. “Instead of having a thorough investigation they wash everything down. It was like a Hazmat — it  was like it never happened.”

According to Ramirez, the officer did not have an emergency kit and approached the scene with a baton in hand.

“One of the other things was that the cop didn’t have an emergency kit, so when they got out they just got out with a baton. What good are you by then?” Ramirez said. “We asked why, and they just said the car did not have it on them. That’s not an excuse because we lost a life, and you don’t know how important that is but that’s a life, a student life.”

Ariana said Sanchez’s death is likely due to first responders’ misconduct.

“This is a fellow student of ours who probably died because of the negligence of the EMTs and the paramedics and the police officers,” Ariana said.

According to Ramirez, Sanchez’s mother was unaware of the situation the next day due to an incomplete police report, in which the witnesses who called emergency services were not included.

“You don’t understand how hard it was,” Ramirez said. “And how hard it was for the mother when we saw her the next day and she had no idea about what happened because they didn’t take a thorough report and they didn’t include us in the report.”

Ariana said IVFP did not have translation services available, which delayed the time it took to notify Sanchez’s family of his death.

“We found out that his family didn’t speak English, so they needed a translator,” Ariana said. “He [the officer] was very insensitive to that and he did not prioritize communicating the sensitive information to Andy’s family.”

Melgoza also said emergency responders should have access to translation, especially to Spanish.

“How many Latino/Latina families are out in Isla Vista?” Melgoza said. “The fact that we don’t have translating services is a disgrace.”

Hernandez said she wants to stress the “racial dynamics and dimensions” of the law enforcement’s failure to address the situation.

“It looks like two cops running in and trying to restrain the individual. And they criminalized the individual because they don’t know how to react,” Hernandez said. “They recoiled at the sight of the wound because they’re not trained, that is not somebody that is trained to ensure our safety.”

According to Ramirez, the police officers did not carry out their responsibility to ensure Sanchez’s well-being.

“This is a student that meant nothing to us, I’m not even getting paid to care,” Ramirez said. “If we have such urgency why don’t they do everything in their power?”

For the IVFP response: “IVFP Responds to Allegations of Misconduct in Sanchez’s Death.”

For the SBC Fire response: http://dailynexus.com/2015-10-16/sbc-fire-responds-to-allegations-of-misconduct-in-sanchezs-death/

The Nexus firmly believes in fair comment and is actively seeking comment from all agencies involved in these allegations.

A version of this story appeared on p. 1 of the Oct. 15, 2015 edition of the Daily Nexus. The title of this article was edited to better reflect the context in which the statements were delivered. 

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