Neighbor attacks neighbor in broad daylight

SANTA BARBARA — The New Year’s Eve stabbing of one neighbor by another has police looking into the frayed relationship between the two men.

Cesar Ortega, 32, and Sergio Quintana, 36, live in the same local neighborhood and have known each other for some time.

But neighborliness between the two seemed to have vanished by the time Ortega made a Dec. 31 call to Santa Barbara authorities to report that he had been assaulted by Quintana in broad daylight on Milpas Street, some 2 miles from the residential neighborhood shared by the two men. Patrol units arrived to find Ortega suffering from multiple stab wounds to the chest and abdomen. At that time, according to Lt. Brent Mandrell, police spokesman, Ortega identified his attacker as Quintana.

Pursuant to an immediate area search, police located Quintana driving down the same residential block, conducted a high-risk traffic stop and promptly arrested him for attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon. Ortega was admitted to Cottage Hospital for treatment of his wounds and remains in guarded but stable condition.

Further witnesses are currently being sought to determine the origin of the dispute.