Chase, Escape, Arrest of Sex Offender

April 27 – Santa Barbara County – Michael Ibison, a 27-year-old resident of Los Alamos in northern Santa Barbara County, has had a busy week.

Michael Ibison

Registered with The State of California as a sex offender, Ibison was allegedly behind the wheel of a car that didn’t belong to him and which he was driving without the permission of the owner—commonly referred to as a “stolen car”—when he was spotted by a patrol unit of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department.  The sharp-eyed Deputy made an attempt to conduct a traffic stop upon the vehicle in the Lompoc area when, according to SBSD Public Information Officer Kelly Hoover, Ibison “sped off, prompting a chase” at high speed.

Hoover reported to the media that the pursuing Deputies suspended their pursuit in consideration for the safety of other motorists in the residential area through which Ibison was driving.  It was in the Mission Hills neighborhood that, according to Hoover, Ibison “intentionally drove his car down a 150-foot embankment” behind a grammar school, abandoned the vehicle, and escaped on foot.

Ibison initially escaped after driving down this embankment in Mission Hills, behind Los Berros Elementary School

A subsequent multi-agency search involving K-9 units, Santa Barbara County Air Support Helicopter Units, and officers of the California Highway Patrol came up empty-handed…for the time being.

A full week later, however, a county resident called 911 Emergency to report someone lurking around her parked car.  Responding units found Ibison and a female companion in the reporting party’s vehicle, now bearing stolen license plates.  He was immediately arrested on suspicion of auto theft, felony evasion, possession of methamphetamine paraphernalia, and possession of false license plates.  He was additionally charged with failing to make his annual registration as a sex offender, and was booked into Santa Barbara County Jail with bail set at $75,000.

Photos: Courtesy Santa Barbara County Jail Booking; Google Maps

Read more:

KCOY: Suspect Arrested One Week After Pursuit In Santa Barbara County

Lompoc Record: Sex offender from pursuit arrested

Noozhawk: A Week After Chase, Sex Offender is Arrested