The Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office filed criminal charges Tuesday against a Santa Barbara man accused of murdering his father and assaulting another man with a deadly weapon, causing serious injuries.
The criminal complaint alleges Casey Augustin Tolivar Jr., 29, committed willful, premeditated and deliberate first-degree murder in the death of his father, Bradley Tolivar, 72, and attempted premeditated murder and assault with a deadly weapon in an attack against a second man, Stevan Lubarsky.
Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a check-the-welfare call at a residence on the 600 block of North La Cumbre Road around 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, according to Raquel Zick, spokeswoman for the Sheriff’s Office.
Responding deputies contacted Casey Tolivar at the residence and “learned that Casey had assaulted a victim with an object, and that the victim fled the residence with serious injuries,” she said in a statement Tuesday.
Deputies then discovered a deceased man inside the residence, who was identified Bradley Tolivar, Zick said.
Casey Tolivar was arrested for assault and booked into the Main Jail, and forensics technicians responded to the scene to investigate the death, Zick said.
“The cause of Bradley’s death was not immediately apparent; however, it was later determined to be suspicious, and not from natural causes,” she added.
During Bradley Tolivar’s autopsy on Tuesday, the preliminary cause and manner of death were determined to be homicide by blunt force trauma, Zick said, adding that the finalized coroner’s report is pending toxicology, which can take eight weeks.
Casey Tolivar was re-booked on suspicion of murder and remains in custody at the Main Jail on $2,030,000 bail, according to the Sheriff’s Department.
He was scheduled to be arraigned on the charges Tuesday afternoon in Santa Barbara County Superior Court.
The criminal complaint alleges that he used a steel bar as a deadly weapon in the murder, and that he used a rock and a glass bottle in the attempted murder and assault of Lubarsky.
The death of Bradley Tolivar occurred sometime between July 10 and July 14, according to the felony complaint filed by the District Attorney’s Office.
Sheriff’s detectives do not believe that there are any further suspects or victims related to the case.
Anyone with information can contact Detective Adam Alegria at 805.681.4100, Zick said.
— Noozhawk staff writer Jade Martinez-Pogue can be reached at jmartinez-pogue@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
