Compton gang member gets 3-strikes prison sentence in connection with Montecito home invasion

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The Santa Barbara County District Attorney's office says Compton Crips gang member Davion Jones has been sentenced in connection with multiple felony crimes including a Montecito home invasion.

It occurred in July of 2018 as the community was only partially occupied following the deadly mudflow disaster earlier that year.

Superior Courty Judge Brian Hill conducted the sentencing via zoom due to the COVID-19 changes in the court system.

Jones received 18 years in prison, plus 115 years to life for the cumulative crimes and his prior convictions under the three-strikes law.

Earlier this year Jones was convicted of home invasion with a person present, carjacking, and felony false impersonation.

Jones also had three out of county outstanding warrants including one for residential burglary in San Diego County, at the time of his arrest.

Two others were involved including a juvenile. The other adult, Adolph Washington Jr. will be sentenced in June.

The suspect search had hundreds of people in the area of Olive Mill Road, San Ysidro Road and Coast Village Road on the lookout during an 18-hour search.

The homeowner heard the nighttime break in and called 911 while hiding in a bedroom closet.

Santa Barbara County Sheriff's units arrived and a deputy saw the suspects, including one that appeared to have a weapon pointed towards the deputy. The deputy fired off a shot that shattered a picture frame inside he house as the suspects ran out the back and through a dry creek.

The suspects car in the driveway was registered out of Los Angeles County and had evidence from a break-in at a Goleta area home earlier in the day including a stolen laptop.

A loaded weapon was found in a creek nearby, along with a hat a suspect lost but during the investigation Deputy District Attorney Kim Seigal says that hat matched one on Jones in a social media post.

The night of the break in, Washington was caught in an hour hiding in bushes near the crime scene.

Patrol units, a K-9 and the Sheriff's helicopters spent hours searching the area, and a shelter in place call was made to residents.

Another suspect, the juvenile, was found on Coast Village Rd. at 5:30 the next morning while walking (and in possession of evidence).

The third was Jones.

He had eluded authorities on foot all night and into the next day.

Investigators say Jones came out of hiding about 2 p.m. when a customer at a retail store left his car running to make a quick stop. Jones got in and was quickly confronted by the car owner who returned. As the two struggled Jones drove away.

That launched a sweeping emergency response from the Sheriff's department, Santa Barbara Police and California Highway Patrol.

Jones drove the wrong way on Channel Drive (a one-way street) by the Music Academy of the West and crashed in the area of Butterfly Beach.

A foot pursuit down the railroad tracks culminated with an arrest in the private community of Montecito Shores.

Seigal said the investigation also showed Jones had extensive felony criminal history and was a member of the Front Hood Compton Crips gang.

The victim of the crime was not physically injured in the ordeal and provided a victim statement to the court as part of the sentencing.