A Los Alamos man was arrested Friday afternoon after fleeing from Santa Barbara County sheriff’s deputies in Solvang, prompting a search before he was found nearby in the Santa Ynez Riverbed.

Shortly after 3 p.m., deputies conducted a traffic enforcement stop near Willow Drive and First Street in Solvang, according to Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Raquel Zick.

After pulling over, the driver ran from deputies and jumped the fences at nearby residences, dropping his wallet with a driver’s license inside, Zick said.

A County Air Support helicopter along with two sheriff’s K-9 units responded to assist with the search.  

At least one witness assisted deputies by pointing out where the suspect entered the riverbed, Zick said.

The police dogs tracked the suspect into a wooded thicket in the riverbed, where he was taken into custody without further incident, according to Zick.

She added that the suspect was armed with a large, fixed-blade knife at the time of his arrest, and drug paraphernalia and methamphetamine were located in the vehicle. 

During the search, deputies used the driver’s license to identify the suspect as Michael Ibison, 33, of Los Alamos.

Deputies discovered that Ibison had two outstanding warrants, the first for $10,000 for failure to appear for possession of drug paraphernalia. He also was wanted on a felony no-bail warrant for violating probation for possession of ammunition by a prohibited person with an enhancement for violent felons. 

— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.