A 28-year-old man was arrested Saturday in connection with a rash of thefts from residential properties in downtown Santa Barbara.
Officers were dispatched at about 7 a.m. to the 300 block of West Arrellaga Street on a report of a man prowling and attempting to steal items from the exterior of several residences, according to Anthony Wagner, a spokesman for the Santa Barbara Police Department.
The suspect was followed by two victims, and fled into the creek bed near the Arrellaga Street freeway offramp, Wagner said.
“Officers arrived on scene, and one of the victims pointed out the suspect, who was hiding in a large elaborate transient encampment just off the freeway near the concreate creek culvert,” Wagner said. “Officers scaled down to the top of the culvert and detained the suspect.”
Vincenzo C. Caligiuri was identified as the suspect by the victims and was arrested, Wagner said, adding that Caligiuri had an outstanding warrant for fleeing from officers last week.
Caligiuri, who initially gave officers a false name, had in his possession drug paraphernalia, according to Wagner.
Caligiuri was booked into the Santa Barbara County Jail on the outstanding warrant, and on suspicion of false impersonation, providing a false name, prowling, theft, possession of drug paraphernalia and destruction of evidence.
— 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.
