Three arrested for robbery, firearm charges, child endangerment in Goleta
GOLETA, Calif. - Santa Barbara County Sheriff's deputies arrested three men after receiving a call regarding a robbery early Friday morning.
The call came in around 1:36 a.m. Deputies responded to the area of Covington Way and Camino Venturoso in Goleta while broadcasting a description of the suspect's vehicle.
Fortunately, a responding deputy spotted a white sedan that matched the vehicle description in the area of San Marcos Road and Via Los Santos.
Deputies then conducted a high-risk traffic stop on the vehicle and found four people inside, three men and an underage girl who had been driving the car.
Deputies searched the vehicle and found a loaded high-power rifle along with three other firearms and armor-piercing ammunition. The sheriff's office said none of the firearms had serial numbers on them.
Deputies then arrested the three men, two Goleta residents and one Santa Maria resident, before releasing the underage girl to a guardian.
The three men were booked at the Santa Barbara County Main Jail on felony charges for robbery, manufacturing an assault weapon, carrying a loaded firearm without being the owner, carrying a concealed weapon in a vehicle, possession of armor-penetrating ammunition, conspiracy, possession of ammunition by a prohibited person, child endangerment and carrying a loaded firearm in the commission of a felony.
The Santa Maria man and one Goleta man were also booked for possessing a firearm while addicted to narcotics and carrying a loaded firearm in public. They are each being held on $1,000,000 bail.
The second Goleta man was booked on additional charges for being a felon in possession of a firearm as well as an outstanding warrant for failure to appear on charges of carrying a loaded firearm in public, carrying a concealed weapon in a vehicle and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. This man is being held without bail.
The sheriff's office said detectives conducted follow-up investigations on these arrests. Three search warrants were served on Friday at the suspects' residences in Goleta: at the 200 block of Pacific Oaks Road, the 7100 block of Davenport Road and the 7300 block of Padova.
Detectives also conducted a probation search at the 4600 block of Stillwell Road in Santa Maria.
The sheriff's office said additional evidence was recovered during these searches.
The investigation is ongoing.
