Fireworks, Fisticuffs & Felony on the Fourth

By Robert L.  McCullough
on Monday, July 9th, 2012 at 11:13 am

July 6– Santa Barbara

Following a night of Fourth of July revelry and drinking, two men came together in full street combat as midnight approached in downtown Santa Barbara, leaving one of them critically injured with stab wounds to his chest.

As midnight approached on July 4^th, Cody Fairfax-Castleberry, 21, who had been drinking heavily that night, entered an Eastside apartment where a party was under way and challenged Malid Dion Harris-Ellis, 19,  to a fight.  Both men, who were previously acquainted, “engaged in running combat in which Ellis retreated only to be followed by the victim who was apparently intent on fighting,” according to Santa Barbara Police Department spokesman  Sgt. Riley Harwood.

Riley reported to the media that multiple witness statements indicated that Ellis entered a neighborhood house and shortly thereafter exited with a large kitchen knife to face the advancing Castleberry.  Following another attempted punch by Castleberry, Ellis stabbed him in the chest, then fled before police could be summoned by onlookers.

Six hours later, in the predawn hours of July 5^th, SBPD detectives located Ellis at his residence whereupon he was arrested on charges of felony assault with a deadly weapon, and destruction or concealment of evidence.  He was then booked into Santa Barbara County Jail with bail set at $30,000.

Shortly thereafter, “the weapon believed to have been used in the assault was located by detectives on a nearby rooftop,” Harwood reported to the media.

Castleberry remains at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital recovering from emergency thoracic surgery.

Photo: Courtesy Santa Barbara County Jail Booking

Read more:

Noozhawk: Fight Sends One Man to Hospital, the Other to Jail

Santa Barbara Independent: Man Stabbed Wednesday Night in 4th of July Fight

Keyt.com:One Block Fight Lands One Man in the Hospital, the Other in Jail

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Site last updated May 24, 2013 @ 1:39 pm; This content last updated July 9, 2012 @ 11:13 am

Site last updated May 24, 2013 @ 1:39 pm; This content last updated July 9, 2012 @ 11:13 am