A man already facing charges for allegedly exposing himself to two teenage girls in Orcutt in January has been arrested after a similar incident in Goleta this week.
About 7:30 p.m. Monday, Santa Barbara County sheriff’s deputies were called to investigate a report that a man had exposed himself to two 14-year old girls in the area of San Bergamo Way and San Rossano Drive.
The girls reported that about 5:30 p.m., they were riding a tandem bike when they noticed an SUV-type vehicle driving slowly behind them. As the driver drove past them, he lifted his hips and exposed himself to the girls. The driver continued down the street, and the victims rode off in the opposite direction they had been traveling.
A few moments later, they noticed the vehicle following them again. This time, the driver had removed his shirt and exposed himself in the same manner as he drove by.
During the investigation, a sheriff’s deputy remembered a similar case in January in Orcutt. In that case, a man fitting the same description had driven by two 15-year-old girls eight or nine times, repeatedly exposing himself in similar fashion.
Further investigation revealed that the man arrested in that case lived in Goleta and drove a vehicle matching the description given by the most recent victims.
As it turns out, the suspect in the first case, Alvaro Ulises Barajas-Chavez, 25, of Goleta, was to appear in a Santa Maria courtroom Thursday to face charges in the Orcutt case.
After pleading not guilty to indecent exposure and child annoying, Barajas-Chavez exited the courtroom, where he was arrested by a sheriff’s detective on charges related to the Goleta incident.
Barajas-Chavez was booked into the Santa Barbara County Jail on indecent exposure charges.
— Drew Sugars is a public information officer for the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department.