Hearing a “lighter spark” and the sound of sucking, an officer patrolling the parking lot behind a State Street restaurant and nightclub met up with an employee near an outdoor garbage receptacle.
Smoking marijuana from a reconfigured soda can, and still wearing his work shirt, the man was questioned. During the interview, he told the officer he was taking out the trash when he decided to “smoke out” because he “needed to relax.”
A search of the man’s pockets uncovered a container with less then one ounce of marijuana. After being cited, the man, 21, was released so he could resume work.
Parts Is Parts
As it turned out, the “rattling sound” coming from the young man’s engine was a screw left behind after the thief removed the vehicle’s air cleaning and filter system.
Concerned about the unusual sound moments after leaving his Bath Street apartment complex on Wednesday morning, the man pulled over to have a look under his hood.
Missing from the engine was the filter system valued around $150.
All for Nothing
While nothing appears to have been taken, the burglars who entered the party supply store through a broken window on Monday are wanted for commercial burglary.
A witness contacted authorities sometime after noon following the San Andreas Street break-in. According to the witness, who watched the event unfold from a nearby window, one suspect worked as lookout as the other crawled through the broken window.
Following the lunch hour burglary, the two suspects feld – empty-handed – in a white jeep.
Not That Kind of Lounge
After treating a man for blisters on his feet, hospital staff released him just before 1 p.m. on a recent Wednesday afternoon.
Despite having been asked to leave the premises, for numerous hours the man lingered in the lobby and the surrounding hospital area. Upon finding the man Thursday morning asleep in the hospital lobby, authorities were called to help remove the subject.
A records check revealed the man from San Luis Obispo was on active parole and had failed to inform his officer that he was leaving his jurisdiction.
The man was arrested on a parole violation.
Pot Farm Photos
An employee from a one-hour film-processing site on State Street contacted officers Wednesday afternoon after finding images of a marijuana grow, or garden, on a roll of film.
Prior to the time officers arrived on the scene, the customer had already picked up the photographs.
Taking Bread from the Mouths of Friars
A burglar entered a Santa Barbara Franciscan parish sometime between Wednesday and Thursday, taking from an open safe numerous checks and an undisclosed amount of cash.>
Believed to have entered through an unlocked window, the thief then fled undetected.
Dumb Vandal
A downtown maintenance crew leader returned to work Friday morning to find a potted tree overturned and broken.
The vandal who uprooted the tree on Chapala Street caused an estimated $1,400 in damage.
One Man’s Treasure
A neighbor on Haley Street was cited for trespassing and burglary, after hopping over the adjoining fence, he stole three bags of recycling materials.
The estimated value of the stored cans was $20.
The Not-So-Grand Discovery
A woman from out of state contacted local authorities, Jan. 3, after a Montecito moving company hired to transport her belongings from North Hills, California to New York failed to deliver.
The caller indicated the company had been hired for the job in August, but she recently discovered valuables totaling $5,000 missing.
The report has been filed as grand theft.