Staff Report
Solvang Elementary School and the surrounding neighborhoods were placed on lockdown this afternoon as the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department was looking for several alleged suspects that were being pursued for failing to stop for a traffic violation.
“At approximately 11:24 a.m. this morning, a Sheriff’s Deputy attempted to stop a tan colored Toyota Camry for speeding in the area of the roundabout at Highway 246 and Purisima Road. The driver failed to yield and accelerated to speeds near 100 mph. The vehicle headed towards Buellton, passing vehicles on the wrong side of the roadway. At the intersection of Highway 246 and Avenue of the Flags, the vehicle turned northbound and was involved in a minor traffic collision,” according to Raquel Zick, public information officer.
Photo courtesy of the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Department.
Zick continued the driver made a U-turn a short way down Avenue of the Flags and turned back onto Highway 246 where they were involved in another minor traffic collision. In that same moment, Sheriff’s Deputies terminated the pursuit in observation of public safety concerns.
About 30 minutes later, deputies were alerted that several people in the area of Skytt Mesa had called 911 to report suspects running from a tan Camry. Deputies responded to the area as the suspects scattered in different directions. Within a few minutes, one suspect was arrested and deputies requested a shelter in place be sent to the area of Skytt Mesa and Hans Christian Andersen Park while they continued their search.
In the Facebook group for the Skytt Mesa neighborhood, several reported seeing the suspects enter the neighborhood in the vehicle and then fleeing and running down several streets.
Solvang Elementary School was placed on lockdown and school officials said all their students were safe as the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department continued looking for the suspects.
The Sheriff’s units including the K9 unit and the helicopter were seen circling Solvang looking for the suspects.
One of the suspects taken into custody is a minor with an outstanding Juvenile warrant whose identity cannot be released. The second suspect was identified as 24-year-old Jasen Robles from Santa Maria who has an outstanding warrant for a stolen vehicle and robbery. The third suspect is 20-year-old Maya Winters from Santa Maria. The outstanding suspect is described as a Hispanic male with facial hair wearing a dark hoodie. Anyone with information about the identity of the outstanding suspect is encouraged to call the Sheriff’s anonymous tip line at 805-681-4171 or on their website.
Check back for updates.
