SANTA MARIA, Calif. – A 36-year-old Santa Maria man is a person of interest after shooting someone leading to their hospitalization on Friday. The shooting investigation at the 500 block of East El. Camino required police activity just after 1:30 p.m. Friday in Santa Maria, according to the Santa Maria Police Department. SMPD officers advised
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SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Governor Gavin Newsom on Thursday announced a major statewide expansion of California Highway Patrol crime suppression teams, though the Central and South Coast is not currently included in the rollout. “The CHP-Coastal Division, which includes San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura Counties, is not part of this deployment,” said Jordan
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VENTURA COUNTY, Calif. — In a press conference Tuesday morning, officials detailed the crime ring unraveled by “Operation Killswitch.” “This wasn’t shoplifting. It was a criminal enterprise that allegedly stole millions of dollars. And it was finally stopped here in Ventura County.“ said Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko. The Ventura County Organized Retail Theft Task
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SANTA BARBARA, Calif.— Wednesday marked day 9 of the trial of Jiram Tenorio Ramón, who is accused of shooting and killing Robert Gutierrez, a bystander from Camarillo, during a gang dispute at Stearns Wharf in December 2022. Ramón’s attorney, George Steele, says his client fired in self-defense. On Wednesday the prosecution and defense stated their
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SANTA MARIA, Calif. – After a four-hour standoff Wednesday in the cul-de-sac of East Sunset Avenue, deputies took 30-year-old Victor Manuel Ayala Sanchez into custody on multiple outstanding warrants. According to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office, deputies tracked Sanchez to a home in the 1100 block of Sunset Avenue, near Tunnel Elementary School, and
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SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. – On Tuesday, Victoriano Lopez Feliciano and Gabriel Victoriano Lopez Feliciano were charged with the murder of Paulina Lopez Gonzalez in connection with an Aug. 9, 2025, shooting in Santa Maria. According to the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office, Victoriano Feliciano also faces special allegations that he personally and intentionally
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EDITOR NOTE: On Tuesday, Victoriano Lopez Feliciano and Gabriel Victoriano Lopez Feliciano were charged with the murder of Paulina Lopez Gonzalez on Aug. 9, 2025. SANTA MARIA, Calif. – Two Santa Maria brothers, 27-year-old Victoriano Lopez Feliciano and 32-year-old Gabriel Lopez Feliciano, were taken into custody Sunday in connection with a fatal shooting Saturday. On
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SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Tuesday marked Day 8 of the trial of Jiram Tenorio Ramón, who is accused of shooting and killing Robert Gutierrez, a bystander from Camarillo, during a gang dispute at Stearn’s Wharf in December 2022. Ramón’s attorney, George Steele, says his client fired in self-defense. On Tuesday, Steele called firearm specialist Daniel O’Kelly to
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SANTA BARBARA, Calif.—Jiram Tenorio Ramon is accused of shooting and killing Robert Gutierrez, a bystander from Camarillo, at the wharf in December of 2022. Prosecutors say the shooting was part of a confrontation between rival gangs. Tenorio Ramon’s attorney argues the other gang fired first, and his client shot in self-defense. Multiple people were called to the
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SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Jiram Tenorio Ramon is accused of shooting and killing Robert Gutierrez, a Camarillo man caught in the crossfire at the wharf in December of 2022. Prosecutors say the shooting was part of a confrontation between rival gangs. Tenorio Ramon’s attorney argues the other gang fired first, and his client shot in self-defense. The
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SANTA BARBARA, Calif.—The sound five consecutive gun shots played in court Monday. The evidence was obtained from multiple cameras and pieced together by detectives. They synced audio of the gunshots from outside Chad’s on Cabrillo with footage from dome cameras near the kiosk on Stearn’s Wharf. Jiram Tenorio Ramon is accused of shooting and killing Robert Gutierrez at
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ORCUTT, Calif. – A Santa Maria father thought he filmed a woman’s body being dumped in an Orcutt park, but authorities say the video doesn’t show the full picture. On Tuesday, Michael Zoppo took his young son to Waller Park in Orcutt to play. He was recording his son climbing up a tree with his
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EDITORS NOTE: The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office clarified that the woman in the video was heavily intoxicated and that the footage does not show her exiting the car on her own. ORCUTT, Calif. — When Michael Zoppo of Santa Maria bought his Meta Glasses three months ago, he never expected to capture the body
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SANTA BARBARA, Calif.— The attack happened Wednesday, May 21st around 4:30 pm at Beanie Babies founder Ty Warner’s mansion on Fairway Road. Forty two year old Russell Maxwell Phay was arrested after authorities say he jumped from a second-floor window. Officers found Linda Malek-Aslanian severely beaten. She ended up in a coma due to a brain injury, which
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SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. — Operation Guardian Angel is a pilot program launched by Federal prosecutors on May 10th. The program aims to counter California’s sanctuary policies by using federal arrest warrants to take custody of certain undocumented immigrants in local jails. California’s sanctuary laws limit how local law enforcement can work with federal immigration authorities. “What
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A request for more information about the death of UCSB student Liz Hamel is being made by her family and an attorney. She died following an incident believed to be a dorm fall on Feb. 14.
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SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. — For years, a giant red stiletto standing tall along Highway 101 near La Conchita has sparked curiosity and brought joy to drivers. “It was just that little bit of humor that somebody—I don’t know if somebody put it there for our eyes to just enjoy,” said Frances Tiger, who lives
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GOLETA, Calif. – Deputies arrested 34-year-old Santa Barbara resident Adam Escarcega for a felony charge of meeting up with a minor for lewd acts Monday afternoon. Deputies arrived at the 6800 block of Hollister Avenue around 3:35 p.m. to meet a reporting party who informed deputies that Escarcega had arranged a meeting online with a person
Continue Reading VENTURA, Calif. – A 33-year-old Oxnard gang member pled guilty to the 2016 second-degree murder of Giovanni Vega on Thursday, according to the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office. The 33-year-old and an associate entered an Oxnard convenience store on Dec. 8, 2016 and followed Vega out before the gang member shot him four times and fled the
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ISLA VISTA, Calif. — Devlin Ott wasn’t expecting to walk into the scene of a burglary when she came into work Saturday morning at the Isla Vista Co-Op. “They came in through that top window. They busted out the screen and came in and they like walked around the store a little bit, looked at the
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