A 55-year-old physician was arrested in Montana early Wednesday on attempted-murder charges stemming from a vicious attack that occurred over the weekend in Goleta.
Dr. Theresa Lynn Colosi of San Jose was taken into custody shortly after 5 a.m. in Whitefish, Montana, on a $1 million arrest warrant from Santa Barbara County, alleging attempted murder and attempted child abduction, according to the Whitefish Police Department.
Colosi, an orthopedic surgeon who practices in the Bay Area, assaulted and seriously injured a court-appointed observer during a court-ordered supervised visit with her 12-year-old son, according to Raquel Zick, public information officer for the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department.
The attack occurred Sunday afternoon in the parking lot at Zodo’s Bowling and Beyond at 5925 Calle Real in Goleta, Zick said.
“During the visitation, Colosi began to act suspicious while walking with her son, which caught the victim’s attention,” Zick said. “Colosi then swung a metal object at the victim, hitting her in the head several times.”
The victim told the boy to run into Zodo’s for help, and Colosi began following him, but then ran to her vehicle and fled the area, Zick said.
Detectives discovered that Colosi had chartered a private jet that departed Lompoc Airport at around 10:48 a.m. to Glacier International Airport near Kalispell, Montana, Zick said.
“Detectives also learned that prior to the incident at Zodo’s, Colosi gave away her belongings, withdrew $900,000 from her bank account, and chartered the flight with fictitious names for herself, her son, and her dog,” Zick said.
Investigation revealed that Colosi was staying at an address in Whitefish.
Whitefish officers set up surveillance on the residence, and observed a taxi picking up a woman matching Colosi’s description, police said.
Officers conductd a high-risk traffic stop of the taxi, Zick said, and Colosi was taken into custody without incident.
She was being held without bail at the Flathead County Detention Center pending extradition to California.
The name of the court-appointed observer and details on her condition were not released. The boy’s name also was not released.
Members of the Northwest Drug Task Force assisted in the investigation, which is ongoing.
On Wednesday morning, the website for Lompoc Health indicated Colosi is an orthopedic surgeon seeing patients at the North H Center.
However, a spokeswoman for Lompoc Health issued the following statement about Colosi Wednesday afternoon, and similar language was placed on the website:
“Dr. Theresa Lynn Colosi has no professional service agreement with Lompoc Health or Lompoc Valley Medical Center. Dr. Colosi is a tenant in an office building owned by Lompoc Valley Medical Center. She has access to use the office on a timeshare basis, but has never used the space.”
Check back with Noozhawk for updates to this story.
— 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.