SANTA MARIA—Police found and arrested the second suspect wanted in connection with a stabbing and robbery on Nov. 6 at Chumash Casino in Santa Ynez.
Osvaldo Hernandez
Investigators pinpointed Osvaldo Hernandez, 35, of Santa Maria, to two possible homes in Santa Maria on Nov. 21, said Kelly Hoover, public information officer with Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office. Special Enforcement Team deputies found Hernandez at a home in the 200 block of Inger Drive. The suspect tried to escape out the back door, but deputies apprehended him at gunpoint.
Hernandez led police and Sheriff’s deputies on a high-speed car chase from Santa Maria to Grover Beach on Nov. 6. After crashing the car he was driving, he managed to evade a massive manhunt on foot. A female occupant with him in the car, Cherie Rodriguez, was taken into custody that night.
According to a press release, the stabbing on Nov. 6 involved a man who was sitting in his car outside Chumash Casino around midnight. The suspects allegedly stabbed him, took his wallet and cell phone, and left him injured on the ground. The victim managed to make his way back to the casino to call for an ambulance.
Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Deputies booked Hernandez on charges of the following: assault with a deadly weapon, attempted murder, robbery, kidnapping and gang enhancement. Prior to Nov. 6, he was on parole for alleged assault with a deadly weapon and resisting arrest. Hernandez is being held at Santa Barbara County Jail on $1 million bail.
Read More:
Santa Maria Times: Suspect in Chumash casino stabbing captured
KCOY: Second suspect arrested in stabbing
