Santa Barbara woman arrested after shoplifting spree at downtown promenade

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Santa Barbara police arrested a woman on Friday after multiple shoplifted items from stores at the downtown promenade were found in her vehicle.

Officers who were working on foot at the promenade said they were dispatched to Mountain Air Sports on the first block of State Street around 3 p.m.

An employee at the store reportedly called police saying they believed a person who had previously shoplifted items from the store was attempting to sell those items on the internet. However, just before officers arrived at the store, police received another call from the employee saying the suspected shoplifter had returned to the shop.

Officers arrived at Mountain Air and contacted the suspect, later identified as a 21-year-old Santa Barbara woman. After a brief investigation, police said they determined the woman had stolen items in her possession from the sporting goods store. They also learned her vehicle was parked nearby and decided to search it.

During that search, officers said they located additional stolen items from two separate downtown stores. They also found a purse that had been reported stolen from a high-end designer store on the 800 block of State Street earlier that same day.

In total, police said stolen property from four separate downtown stores was found in the woman's vehicle. All of the items were reportedly undamaged and returned to the businesses.

Police said the woman was arrested and faces charges for four separate counts of shoplifting as well as the possession of drug paraphernalia.