Two people were arrested in Carpinteria on Saturday afternoon as suspects in a rash of auto burglaries that occurred earlier in the day at a Goleta shopping center, according to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department.
At about 3:30 p.m., a deputy on patrol in Carpinteria observed a suspect vehicle that had been connected to several vehicle break-ins reported at the Calle Real Shopping Center in Goleta, said Raquel Zick, a sheriff’s public information officer.
The deputy tried to get close enough to make a traffic stop on the black sedan but was unable to do so.
However, a short time later, the sedan collided with another vehicle on southbound Highway 101 near the Santa Ynez Avenue overpass, Zick said.
The two occupants of the suspect vehicle — a man and a woman — fled on foot, but the woman was quickly taken into custody nearby.
The man ran down Carpinteria Avenue and into a housing project, where he jumped into a parked truck, Zick said. The truck’s owner discovered the man in his vehicle and told him to leave.
The male suspect, who at some point changed his clothing, was taken into custody a short time later with the aid of a K-9 unit and a county helicopter, Zick said.
Both suspects, whose names were not released because of the ongoing investigation, remained in custody with charges pending Saturday afternoon.
The sedan had been reported stolen out of San Jose, Zick said, adding that there were no injuries in the collision.
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— Noozhawk executive editor Tom Bolton can be reached at tbolton@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.