Alfredo Cantu
Santa Barbara County – Proving once again that the long arm of the law may be exactly that as well as double-jointed, in the early pre-dawn hours of January 7th a man and a woman suspected of being complicit in a 6:00 a.m. Christmas morning robbery that took place in the parking lot of the Chumash Casino—located in the heart of the Santa Ynez Valley just north of the City of Santa Barbara—were finally apprehended by Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s detectives at a motel some 150 miles beyond local county jurisdiction.
Jennifer Alvarez
According to Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department Public Information Officer Kelly Hoover, on the morning of the robbery, Pico Rivera resident Alfredo Cantu, 30, and Temecula resident Jennifer Alvarez, 32 “worked together to lure a male victim to his parked vehicle and then rob him.” With the deed done, Cantu and Alvarez are alleged to have escaped and left the area in a rented car.
Working from victim statements and with the aid of Chumash Casino security recordings, SBSD Real Time Crimes Unit detectives tracked the suspects to a Motel 6 in Temecula, and showed up at their doorstep to effect their arrests.
Both Cantu and Alvarez were summarily taken into custody, transported to Riverside County Jail, booked on charges of conspiracy and robbery with their bail set at $1,000,000 each, and promptly prepared for extradition and transport to Santa Barbara County Jail where they will await a court date for formal arraignment.
Photo: Courtesy Santa Barbara and Riverside County Jail Booking
