Sheriff’s Number One Deltopia Suspect Behind Bars

The number one suspect on Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown’s Deltopia wanted list is behind bars.

The Deltopia riot happened the night of April 5. It was after a long day of the unsanctioned Spring Break party chaos broke out in Isla Vista.

Sheriff’s deputies said Agustin Guerrero, 23, is responsible for fueling the riot that took over the streets of the small college town.

“Agustin Guerrero got quite a surprise on Friday at work when sheriff’s detectives showed up to arrest him. He probably thought he got away with this crime and he did not,” said Kelly Hoover, of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department.

The Oxnard man is charged with felony vandalism and inciting a riot. He’s being held at the Santa Barbara County Jail on $50,000 bail.

Detectives said a mob was encouraged by Guerrero after he threw a large rock, breaking a mini-van window. The group then destroyed the vehicle that was parked near Camino Del Sur and Sabado Tarde.

Out of the 457 adults who where arrested or cited during Deltopia, of those where UCSB or Santa Barbara City College Students.

“Which does go to show that while we do have people coming in from out of town who cause trouble, there’s also our own people who were causing trouble as well,” said Hoover.

“Sure like Deltopia is a UCSB event but not necessarily all the trouble makers are all UCSB students,” said Jesse Gomez, a UCSB student. “As Gauchos we know the rules, we understand the rules and we comprehend them.”

“People got out of control. Usually it’s the out of town people. They hear UCSB, ‘Oh, it’s a big party school.’ So they like to come and they like to have fun,” said Nestor Moreno, another UCSB student.

To round up of suspects, including Guerrero, detectives traveled as far as South Lake Tahoe, the Bay Area and Los Angeles.

Geddy Miller, 19, was arrested in South Lake Tahoe and booked on charges of inciting a riot and felony vandalism. Detectives said he was seen on video jumping on top of a mini-van.

William Hopkins, 22, is a UCSB student from Goleta who was arrested for refusing to disperse and for remaining at a riot.

Arron Cozza, 19, of Arroyo Grande was identified as one of the people who pulled a stop sign out of the ground and waving it around. He was arrested at Santa Barbara City College where he is a student. He was charged with receiving stolen property and theft.

Mike Duenas, 20, of Acton, was booked on charges of inciting a riot.

Austin Escobedo, 21, was arrested in Santa Barbara for making terrorist threats and participating in a riot.

Jorge Santana, 21, was arrested in San Lorenzo. Deputies said he threw two canisters of tear gas at law enforcement officers. His charges include obstructing and resisting a peace officer with violence.

Justin Mott, 18, of Valencia is charged with vandalizing a car in a grocery store parking lot in Goleta following the riot.

“This was such a devastating event for the community, the Sheriff’s Office just didn’t want to let it go,” said Hoover.

Twenty-six people were injured and transported to the hospital the night of the riot. Six sheriff’s deputies and one UCSB police officer were injured mainly from rocks, bricks and bottles being thrown.

In overtime costs alone, Deltopia racked up an $86,000 bill for the sheriff’s department.

Carina King, a recent transfer student to UCSB said, the riot video she watched online made her question her decision to attend the university, but is now happy with her choice.

“I figure that since that happened the year before, if anything it’s going to be safer than ever,” she said.

The sheriff’s department said they are not done with their investigation. Currently there are four cases pending charges from the district attorney’s office for people involved in Deltopia.