The man accused of shooting four people with a high-velocity air gun in Goleta on Jan. 15 waived his right on Thursday to a preliminary hearing in Santa Barbara County Superior Court.
Charles Peart Quinn, 42, has pleaded not guilty to 15 felony and misdemeanor charges. Senior Deputy District Attorney Mary Barron is prosecuting the case,and Quinn is represented by public defender Jeff Chambliss.
The Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office filed a second amended complaint this week, changing the robbery charges to attempted robbery charges as no property was actually taken, Barron said in an e-mail.
Another charge of assault with a deadly weapon on a civilian was added, as was a misdemeanor charge of battery on a peace officer, which allegedly occurred while Quinn was a patient at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital.
Quinn was already facing three counts of armed robbery, four counts of assault with a deadly weapon, three counts of assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer, three counts of resisting an executive officer, brandishing a replica gun and failure to register as a sex offender.
Quinn is accused of shooting two youths at the Camino Real Marketplace on Market Place Drive and then leaving the shopping center. Three deputies with the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department caught up with him in the vacant lot at the Hollister Avenue and Storke Road intersection, where he allegedly shot at them, hitting two of the deputies.
All three deputies returned fire and hit him “three times in the upper torso (chest and stomach area) and I believe once in his shoulder,” Chambliss has told Noozhawk. He said Quinn will next appear in court on March 3.
If convicted of all charges, Quinn could receive up to 22 years in prison, according to Barron.
— Noozhawk staff writer Giana Magnoli can be reached at gmagnoli@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk or @NoozhawkNews.