A man who allegedly shot a Santa Barbara Police officer in the head with a pellet gun last week was arraigned Tuesday afternoon and pleaded not guilty to multiple felony charges.

A criminal complaint was filed Tuesday by the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office against Mitchell Grant Grote, 30.

He was charged with aggravated mayhem, assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer, battery on a police officer and obstructing or resisting arrest, all felonies, according to Superior Court Records.

Grote also is facing a misdemeanor count of obstructing or resisting arrest, along with several criminal enhancements including personal use of a deadly or dangerous weapon, causing great bodily injury, and having previous serious felony convictions.

Grote, who reportedly is a transient, pleaded not guilty to all charges in an appearance before Superior Court Judge Thomas Adams in Santa Barbara, according to Supervising Deputy District Attorney Kevin Weichbrod.

Weichbrod explained that felony aggravated assault is charged for an act that is committed with the intent to disfigure or dismember someone.

Grote remained in custody without bail at the Santa Barbara County Jail on Tuesday afternoon.

He is scheduled to return to court on May 26 for a preliminary hearing setting.

The weapon allegedly used by Grote was a pellet handgun, Weichbrod told Noozhawk.

The incident began at about 9:50 a.m. Friday on the 100 block of South La Cumbre Road, near O’Reilly Auto Parts and La Cumbre Plaza.

An officer attempted to contact Grote, who allegedly fired several shots at her with the weapon, striking her once in the head.

The female officer fired a single shot from her service weapon at Grote, police said, but he was not struck.

The officer, whose name has not been released, was taken to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, where she was treated and released.

Grote fled on foot into La Cumbre Plaza, according to witnesses and police. He went into a shopping center restroom and was taken into custody after a large law enforcement response to the scene.

At the time of the shooting, Grote was on a five-year-felony probation term stemming from a knife assault on Jan. 29, 2023, outside Santa Barbara City Hall, according to Superior Court records.

In that case, Grote originally was charged with attempted murder, among other counts, but ended up pleading guilty in June 2025 to felony charges of assault with a deadly weapon, along with a special allegation that the attack caused great bodily injury.

The victim, a homeless man, suffered a stab wound to the neck and was treated at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital.

Grote served nearly two and a half years in County Jail for that crime, Weichbrod said, before being released on probation.

Court records show that Grote has been the subject of numerous mental-competency hearings dating back to his arrest in 2023. Weichbrod said Grote’s request for a mental-health diversion of his criminal case had been denied.

Prior to last week’s shooting, his probation had been revoked and a warrant had been issued for his arrest for failure to report to his probation officer last October, Weichbrod said.

Bail for the shooting case was set at $1 million, Weichbrod said, but Grote was being held without bail on the probation violation.