Santa Barbara County – William Carroll, a 48-year-old Santa Paula resident, is undoubtedly the kind of guy who, once he gets his mind focused in a certain direction, stays focused on the task before him. Just like some people enjoy “binge-watching” their favorite TV shows on Netflix, Carroll seemed to have trouble disengaging from his midnight-to-dawn crime spree in the City of Goleta in the early hours of July 6th.
It took the coordinated investigatory efforts of Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department detectives, deputies of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department, and Santa Paula Police Department patrol officers to unravel the events of July 6th, which SBSD Public Information Officer Kelly Hoover revealed to the media on July 29th. Hoover detailed evidence leading to the investigators’ conclusion that “Carroll was dropped off in the City of Goleta…and set out to steal property out of unlocked vehicles,” a task at which he was apparently highly proficient. “He stole items out of seven unlocked vehicles,” Hoover reported, and when he found “an unlocked vehicle with the keys left inside,” Carroll summarily drove the car to his Santa Paula home.
It was pursuant to a routine traffic stop on July 16th when Santa Paula officers identified Carroll’s vehicle as having been reported as stolen, and discovered more than two thousand dollars in property stolen during Carroll’s big night in Goleta. It was at that point that Carroll was taken into custody, and transported to Ventura County Jail where he was booked on charges of auto theft and grand theft. Because his alleged crimes were committed in Santa Barbara County, he has since been transported to Santa Barbara County Jail, where he faces indictment and prosecution by the Santa Barbara County District Attorney.
Photo: Courtesy Santa Barbara County Jail Booking
