Bloody Stabbing Victim Grilled by Cops Before Ambulance Called
Santa Barbara County – To say that “the hits just keep coming” in the UCSB environs would be an understatement as Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Deputies and University of California Police Department Officers at approximately 4:00 a.m. on November 17th were called to Freebirds, a popular off-campus eatery in Isla Vista—just steps away from the university’s west entrance—pursuant to a reported knife attack.
Peter Cho
According to SBSD Public Information Officer Drew Sugars, when deputies arrived at the business on Embarcadero Del Norte, they observed “multiple subjects with stab wounds” and others with blunt force head trauma. They also encountered multiple witnesses to a violent scene, including several restaurant employees, all describing a suspect whom they observed perpetrating the attack. Witnesses also reported seeing five young Asian men attacking two latino restaurant patrons in the nearby parking lot.
One of the stabbing victims, Andrew Castro, had no less than six wounds. According to witness reports given by Freebird employees, Castro was instructed by officers to sit on a curb while they interviewed him for approximately twenty minutes about the fight.
When the employees indicated that Castro was bleeding profusely and suggested that he needed immediate medical attention, an ambulance was summoned. Some 40 minutes later, Castro was transported to Santa Barbara County Hospital Emergency for treatment of what were determined to be life-threatening injuries.
Deputies then began a focused investigation into the events leading to the apparent street fight. Shortly thereafter, Deputies found their way to a residence nearby where “they contacted the occupants, located a knife, and arrested an Asian suspect,” Sugars reported. Peter Cho, 20, was booked into Santa Barbara County Jail on charges of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, and destroying evidence. Mr. Cho will presumably miss his final exams this semester, as his bail is currently set at $500,000…and SBSD Deputies interviewing Mr. Castro will have some “’splainin’ to do”.
Photo: Courtesy Santa Barbara County Jail Booking; SBSD Isla Vista Patrol
Read more:
San Jose Mercury News: UCSB Student Arrested for Attempted Murder
KeyT: Prosecutors seek Prison, not Jail, for UCSB Student
Santa Barbara Independent: Sunday Morning Stabbing in Isla Vista
