A high-speed pursuit Wednesday morning involving Santa Barbara County sheriff’s deputies and a robbery suspect ended in a crash along the southbound lanes of Highway 101 south of Carpinteria.
Drew Sugars, a public information officer for the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department, said Erick Tanane Balint, 29, of Long Beach, is facing several charges, including robbery, vehicle theft, evading with wanton disregard for safety, driving without a license and domestic violence. He also may face charges of driving under the influence, pending toxicology tests.
About 10:30 a.m., sheriff’s dispatchers received a call that a man had stolen a vehicle from his girlfriend outside a grocery store on the 800 block of Linden Avenue in Carpinteria, Sugars said.
About 10:55 a.m., a sheriff’s deputy on the Casitas Pass overpass spotted a Jeep Cherokee driving southbound on Highway 101 that matched the description of the victim’s vehicle. When the deputy attempted to pull over the car near La Conchita, the suspect sped off at a high rate of speed.
The California Highway Patrol joined the pursuit near the Main Street exit in Ventura County. The suspect then veered his vehicle across two southbound lanes and off the right side of the road before coming to rest in heavy brush about 100 yards down an embankment.
The driver was knocked unconscious, Sugars said, and deputies had to rescue him through the back hatch of the vehicle.
The suspect was treated for non-life-threatening injuries. He will be moved to the Santa Barbara County Jail once he’s medically cleared; for now, he will be booked absentia.
— Noozhawk staff writer Ben Preston can be reached at bpreston@noozhawk.com.