Shortly before 5 p.m. Friday, police officers responded to Shoreline Park to assist Santa Barbara Police Chief Cam Sanchez.
Chief Sanchez was attending a relative’s wedding ceremony at the park. The chief was dressed in his police uniform.
While at the ceremony, Sanchez heard a male voice yell a comment in reference to the police chief’s presence. The comment included profanities and reference to Sanchez’s ethnicity. The police chief looked toward the direction of the comment and saw an adult male, later identified as Wayne David Scoles, 55, walking toward him.
Scoles approached Sanchez, apparently upset about homeless people at the park. Scoles continued yelling and during the contact threatened to assault Sanchez. The police chief called for assistance. Moments later, officers arrived.
Scoles was taken into custody without further incident. Scoles was transported to the police station and later released on a citation for disturbing the peace and challenging to fight.
Lorenzo Duarte is a sergeant with the city of Santa Barbara Police Department.