The names of two men who died recently in public incidents in the city of Santa Barbara were released Tuesday by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Coroner’s Bureau.
Kenneth Dean Fink, 84, of Santa Barbara, died Sunday after he jumped off the Santa Barbara Courthouse clock tower observation deck, according to Raquel Zick, sheriff’s public information officer.
At 4:30 p.m. Sunday, the police dispatch center received a 9-1-1 call about “a subject that had leapt from the top of the court’s clock tower look-out,” Santa Barbara Police Sgt. Ethan Ragsdale told Noozhawk.
Responding officers discovered Fink, who was unresponsive, on the Anacapa Street side of the courthouse tower. They performed CPR until fire and paramedic personnel arrived.
Fink was taken to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
“He was always an intelligent, kind man,” Elizabeth Mercer, Fink’s niece, told Noozhawk.
“I am extremely saddened at what happened, and just wanted people in this area to know that he had family who cared and regret that it ended this way,” Mercer said.
On April 18, a body was found on East Beach.
The victim was Lawrence Russell Tanner, 76, of Santa Barbara, Zick said Tuesday.
The Police Department was notified of the discovery of Tanner’s body in the surf shortly after 3 p.m. on April 18.
The reporting party flagged down an AMR paramedic unit in the area, Ragsdale said, and they confirmed Tanner was deceased.
Ragsdale added that there did not appear to be any foul play associated with Tanner’s passing.
He noted that Tanner owned a boat that was anchored in the free mooring area off East Beach, but added that the manner and cause of death were pending a coroner’s investigation.
Managing editor Giana Magnoli contributed reporting to this story.