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Santa Barbara police arrest man for attempted assault of an officer

Diego Hernandez-Mendez
Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office
Diego Hernandez-Mendez, 34, of Santa Barbara

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- Santa Barbara police arrested one man for causing disturbance in the downtown Santa Barbara area on Sunday.

On Sunday at around 8:30 p.m., Santa Barbara police responded to reports of a man lighting objects on fire in the middle of the State Street temporary promenade area.

Police made contact with the employees of a business located on 1200 block of State Street where they also said the man was circling the block looking into parked cars along the intersections.

While searching for the man, a woman flagged down officers and told them that a man was following her in the area. Police say the woman's description of the man matched the reported suspect.

Officers later found the suspect who fled on foot towards State Street.

After the chase, the suspect stopped and turned towards one of the officers and attempted to hit the officer with a large rock. The officer avoided the hit.

Police officers were able to detain him and evaluated him.

Police identified the suspect as Diego Hernandez-Mendez, 34, from Santa Barbara.

He was then taken into custody.

Hernandez-Mendez was arrested for threat of violence to deter arrest, assault with a deadly weapon, under the influence of a controlled substance and probation violations.

He was booked at the Santa Barbara County Jail.

Article Topic Follows: Santa Barbara - South County

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Julia Nguyen

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