Crime doesn’t take the day off on Christmas –and neither does Lompoc PD

LOMPOC, Calif. -- Lompoc Police responded to a number of incidents on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, including calls for a stabbing, a car break-in, and a reported shooting (that turned out to be a firecracker).

Officers also came close to locating a suspected gang member wanted since 2017.

“They won't give us permission to check the residence for this wanted subject," said Lompoc Police Corporal, Leo Garza.

The suspect is Luis Parra, accused of belonging to a street gang and believed to be involved in several Lompoc shootings in 2017.

While KCOY 12 was on a ride along with Garza on Wednesday, he spotted a man that looked like Parra riding a dirt quad on K Street.

Garza pulled up to a house to question who he believed to be the suspect's family.

“Who was riding this? Do you wanna tell them to come out and talk to me?” he asked.

According to Garza, the wanted man's family did not answer his questions truthfully.

“The whole family is protecting him, even after my sergeant told his sister that her brother was gonna get somebody hurt.”

Parra has evaded arrest for more than two years, but others weren't so lucky this holiday season.

“Yesterday was really busy," said Garza.

He says two men were caught as they were trying to break into a car on Christmas Eve.

“One of them had a two-bladed knife on him in his pocket, for protection he says. The other guy was on parole.”

Those suspects are from Santa Maria.

“They wouldn't say they were, but they looked like gang members.”

And earlier on Tuesday night, “somebody stabbed another person with scissors. She was sitting outside and had blood on her," said Garza.

But the real crime this Christmas was...

“[My] mom and sisters had made tamales yesterday," shared the Lompoc PD corporal. "So I wasn't able to eat tamales yesterday.”

A warm plate of tamales is not all these officers sacrificed on December 25.

“It's a little sad just because I don't get to see my kids," said Garza.