After eluding arrest for about 14 years, the suspect in a 1998 rape investigation in Carpinteria is in custody in the Santa Barbara County Jail.
Ramon Gonzalez Ceja, 45, was arrested by sheriff’s deputies in 1998 on allegations of rape, burglary and domestic violence, according to Sheriff’s Department spokesman Drew Sugars. Ceja posted bail and fled the jurisdiction.
His information was posted on the Sheriff’s Department website seeking the public’s help in locating him, and for the past several years has been included on the Sheriff’s Most Wanted website.
Sugars said the Sheriff’s Felony Fugitive Unit began re-examining Ceja’s case last year, and that information was recently obtained that lead investigators to a possible local address where Ceja was believed to be staying.
Ceja turned himself in on Tuesday, Sugars said.
— Noozhawk managing editor Michelle Nelson can be reached at mnelson@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
