Santa Barbara County – Paraphrasing the immortal movie character portrayed by Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump, “crazy is as crazy does” may be the apt analysis of events that transpired on the premises of a Santa Maria apartment building in the middle of the afternoon on January 15th.
It was at that time that a 911 Emergency call to the Santa Maria Police Department reporting an attack by fire extinguisher brought a prompt law enforcement response to the scene. According to SMPD Lt. Dan Cohen, “When officers arrived, they contacted the victim who was completely covered with powder from a dry-chemical fire extinguisher”, and who was having trouble breathing pursuant to what police soon believed to be “an unprovoked attack by a stranger.”
That stranger, Jose Luis Picos, a 48-year old Santa Maria resident, allegedly fired the business end of the fire extinguisher nozzle under an apartment residence door and subsequently broke the apartment’s window. When the apartment dweller opened his door to confront Pico, he was sprayed in the face and quickly “grabbed a chair and held Picos at bay” in an effort to protect his wife and infant son from the onslaught.
Upon the arrival of uniformed patrol officers, Picos fled the scene on foot, retreating to the nearby Allan Hancock College parking lot where he promptly began randomly slashing vehicle tires. Picos was ultimately apprehended, placed under arrest, and transported to Santa Barbara County Jail where he was booked on charges of assault with a deadly weapon, child endangerment, and vandalism.
Photo: Courtesy Santa Barbara County Jail Booking
Read more:
CalCoastNews: SM Man attacks family with fire extinguisher
KCOY: SM Man charged with attack
KSBY: Man accused of assault
