The Santa Barbara Police Department had another busy weekend, especially Saturday. Here is a sample of activity in that one 24-hour period.
» At 12:16 a.m. Saturday, police responded to Tonic nightclub at 634 State St. on a disturbance call. Nightclub security pointed out Thomas McWilliams Pomare, 26, who had been banned from the club for past disturbances.
On Saturday, despite the ban, Pomare tried to get inside. When security denied him, he reportedly made threats before his friends pulled him away. Pomare, 6 feet 5 inches tall and 200 pounds, broke free from his friends and rushed back to Tonic, knocking into pedestrians in the process. He made more threats and tried to provoke a fight by fake-punching security personnel. Pomare for disturbing the peace, and for a $5,000 warrant stemming from a prior disturbing-the-peace incident.
» At 12:35 a.m., police responded to an assault in the 500 block of State Street. The victim was a 24-year-old Goleta man. Witnesses reported the victim walking down State Street, when a suspect came from behind, grabbed his shirt and began punching him in the face. A second suspect arrived and punched the victim in the back several times. The victim bent over and covered his face with his arms. The second suspect kicked the victim in the head, knocking him down. A witness reported that the victim went unconscious for one to two minutes.
An officer arrived in time to find one of the suspects, John Foisy, 20, in a breezeway connecting State Street to City Lot 11. Witnesses identified him as the first assailant. Foisy denied any involvement, but had fresh abrasions on his knuckles and blood on his pants. The second suspect was not found.
The victim said he had been “talking with a girl.” The two suspects said the girl was with them and became confrontational. The victim walked away to avoid a fight, but was chased down and attacked. The victim was transported to Cottage Hospital for treatment.
Foisy was booked for assault with a deadly weapon (hands and feet), assault causing serious injury and possession of marijuana.
» At 12:52 a.m., an officer responded to an alarm at a dental office at 605 State St. The front window had been broken, with a fist-sized hole. Blood led from the window, down the sidewalk, to the next block and to a bus bench in the 500 block of State Street.
Seated on the bus bench was Jeffrey Shutt, 22. His T-shirt was wrapped around his left hand, which was soaked through with blood. A large pool of blood had puddled beneath him, and he had a deep laceration to the knuckles of his left hand that required stitches. Shutt gave police a false name and claimed breaking the window was accidental.
The size and nature of the broken window coupled with the laceration to the knuckles made the incident appear to be the result of vandalism. Paramedics arrived, but Shutt became combative and had to be strapped to the gurney. At the hospital, Shutt urinated in the treatment room and struggled with medical personnel. He refused stitches but agreed to let medical personal use staples to close the wound. After staples were administered, he then demanded stitches and began pulling out his staples. He was again restrained until medically cleared for discharge.
Shutt was booked into jail for vandalism and giving police a false name.
» At 1:16 a.m., citizens flagged down police to report a fight in front of the Wildcat nightclub, 15 W. Ortega St. Of the two men fighting, Reuben Hasani Jimenez Aguilar, 22, appeared to be the aggressor. Police tried to break up the two, but Aguilar kept fighting despite police presence. He violently resisted being pulled away and handcuffed.
A woman came out of the Wildcat to report that Aguilar had been very aggressive with her inside the club. When she came outside to get away, Aguilar followed before fighting with some other man. Aguilar was booked for disturbing the peace and public intoxication.
» At 5 a.m., police were called to the 1000 block of Santa Barbara Street on a call of graffiti vandalism in progress. The suspect(s) had fled on foot. As police checked the area, the reporting citizen reported the suspects driving away in a Toyota RAV-4. Police caught up to the vehicle at 100 W. Haley St. The vehicle stopped and the occupants fled, but the officer caught Austin Gerrard Gibson, 18. Spray-paint cans were found inside the vehicle. Gibson was booked for graffiti vandalism.
» At 11:10 p.m., police responded to a call of a suicidal man who reportedly cut himself and then drove away in a white Nissan Altima. Police located the driver, who, despite significant lacerations, refused to yield. After a three-mile chase, police considered the pursuit too risky and disengaged. Minutes later, the driver was again spotted driving on Cabrillo Boulevard, at a very slow speed. Police saw he was now bleeding significantly from his face and again followed. The Nissan sped up and again would not pull over, so police disengaged a second time. Five minutes later, the driver was involved in a minor-injury traffic collision on Highway 101 northbound near Garden Street.
The driver, Alberto Cardenas, 26, was admitted to Cottage Hospital. The case was referred to the district attorney for evading arrest and DUI pending toxicology.
— Lt. Paul McCaffrey is a public information officer for the Santa Barbara Police Department.