A Santa Ynez man was arrested Tuesday evening after he allegedly struck an elderly man with an expandable baton during a dispute.
Dinu Antofie, 45, of Santa Ynez was arrested on charges of assault with a deadly weapon, victim intimidation and elder abuse, according to Kelly Hoover, spokeswoman for the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department.
Deputies responded to the 2700 block of Corral de Quati in Los Olivos on Tuesday evening to reports that a 72-year-old man had been struck in the leg several times with an expandable baton.
The attack followed a disagreement between the elderly victim, who is the landlord of the residence and who was visiting one of the tenants, according to Hoover.
“The two had argued over Antofie smoking inside the residence,” she said.
While the argument between the parties was initially only a verbal disagreement, Antofie returned to the residence armed with an expandable baton.
He allegedly pushed and struck the elderly victim before shoving him to the ground. Antofie then used the baton to strike the elderly victim at least twice in the leg, leaving welts and marks, Hoover said, and threatened to harm the elderly victim if he reported the attack.
On Wednesday, sheriff’s detectives learned the location of the suspect and Antofie was taken into custody without incident at a Santa Ynez restaurant.
He was booked into the Santa Barbara County Jail on $100,000 bail.
— Noozhawk staff writer Lara Cooper can be reached at lcooper@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
