Carpinteria – Proving once again that what our parents told us about poor choices having bad consequences, 23-year old Oscar Varela Moreno, a Santa Barbara resident, now knows what to expect when you point a shotgun at a cop: a well-aimed fusillade of 9mm slugs coming your way.
Moreno is currently recovering from multiple gunshot wounds inflicted by Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Deputies who had attempted to conduct a traffic stop upon his vehicle just after midnight on June 7th. According to SBSD Public Information Officer Kelly Hoover, Moreno was driving through a remote area of Carpinteria just north of the Ventura County Line known as the “Thunderbowl” when deputies hit their red lights in an effort to pull him over pursuant to their “suspicion of a traffic violation.”
As Moreno slowed his car, he summarily alighted from the vehicle which was “still moving” and allegedly reached into the trunk of the car to remove a shotgun, which he then inexplicably “pointed at the Sheriff’s deputy.” As Moreno’s car continued to roll 50 yards further, an additional SBSD Deputy arrived on scene, whereupon both deputies opened fire, striking Moreno “multiple times”. Moreno, who failed to discharge the shotgun, was understandably “detained by the deputies” without further ado.
After the arrival of emergency medical personnel, Moreno was treated at the scene and subsequently transported to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital for treatment of non-life threatening wounds. While in recovery, Moreno was booked in absentia and charged with felony brandishing of a firearm at a peace officer and felony obstructing/resisting of an executive officer.
Photo: Courtesy Santa Barbara County Sheriff
