Santa Barbara County – There is a short list of fundamental Rules of the Road of which all drivers should be aware:
#1. Don’t drink and drive.
#2. If you have an accident, don’t drive away.
#3. Don’t threaten cops with a large knife.
When one ignores any of those three rules, bad things tend to occur.
The proof of that came once again on the streets of Santa Maria—where hit-and-run DUI accidents have recently become something of a public plague–on the evening of Friday, May 22nd, when Deadrick Rollins, 36, failed to yield at a downtown intersection and clammed into a vehicle carrying multiple occupants. According to Santa Maria Police Department spokesman Sgt. Mark Norling, Rollins violated Rule #2 (above) and fled the scene. A short time later, Rollins’ vehicle was spotted by a marked patrol unit, which made an attempt to conduct a traffic stop upon it.
Rather than submit to the traffic stop, Rollins “failed to stop his vehicle” and led officers on a short vehicle pursuit, which finally ended when Rollins brought his car to a halt. After a period of time during which Rollins refused to exit his vehicle, he inexplicably violated Rule #3 (above) by “brandishing a large knife at the officers.” Showing remarkable restraint—possibly as a result of prior years’ multiple police shooting investigations and retraining—officers responded to Rollins’ threat by firing beanbag weapons, striking him with non-lethal force. He was immediately subdued and taken into custody.
It was determined on the scene that Rollins had also violated Rule #1 (above), and was booked into Santa Barbara on charges of DUI, hit-and-run, felony evading, brandishing a weapon, resisting officers with force, and driving on a suspended license.
Photo: Courtesy Santa Barbara County Jail Booking
