Santa Barbara Police arrested an alleged prowler late Tuesday night who reportedly broke into a residence on Milpas Street and lingered in the kitchen as a petrified couple dialed 911 from their bedroom, authorities said.
Officers arrived at the scene around 10:30 p.m. and arrested Richard Francis Moore, 51, who was on the front porch of the residence on the 200 block of North Milpas Street, said Lt. Paul McCaffrey, the public information officer for the police department.
Moore had just been released from state prison earlier in the day, he said.
“The officers ordered Moore to get down and show his hands,” Lt. McCaffrey said in a statement. “Moore cussed at the officers, refused to follow the commands, and kept one hand concealed under his jacket.”
When an officer retrieved his police dog, “Moore cussed at the dog, the canine handler, and refused to comply,” Lt. McCaffrey said.
Eventually, Moore was subdued, and in the process suffered “minor bite wounds,” for which he was treated and released at Cottage Hospital, he said.
Police did not find a knife on Moore, but a pocket search did turn up a “Leatherman tool,” Lt. McCaffrey said.
The couple told police they were awakened by their barking dog, but thought nothing of it at first. Then their bedroom door opened and the intruder dressed in black stepped into the room, police said. When they shouted at him, he entered the kitchen and they followed. But they returned to their bedroom when they saw him holding what appeared to be a knife, police said.
Lt. McCaffrey said Moore has an extensive criminal history that includes arrests for assault. Moore was booked in the Santa Barbara County Jail on suspicion of trespass, resisting arrest and parole violation. He is being held without bail.