Christopher Lyn Manson III
SANTA BARBARA — With the area’s summer tourism season in full swing and driving much of the city’s economy and tax revenues, the law enforcement perspectives of the Santa Barbara Police Department—never particularly laissez-faire at any time—remain rigorous and focused on the mission of maintaining the public safety of visitors and citizens alike.
Evidence of the vigilance of uniformed patrol officers surfaced on the night of June 25th, when Santa Barbara resident Christoper Lyn Manson III, a 26-year-old known gang member, was observed by SBPD Drinking Driver Team Officer Kyle Rapp engaged in an altercation with two other men on a busy downtown area sidewalk.
According to SBPD Public Information Officer Sgt. Riley Harwood, Rapp had been in the process of conducting a routine traffic stop nearby when he was informed of the fight in progress by passers-by who reported one of the combatants in possession of a firearm.
Rapp responded to the reported scene and observed Manson and two others immediately dispersing. When Officer Rapp attempted to contact Manson, “he withdrew a handgun from his waistband and started to run away.”
Clearly perceiving the danger of this situation, Rapp drew his service weapon and promptly began a hot-footed running pursuit of Manson who also had his gun in hand. Some distance further, Manson “attempted to discard his weapon” into shrubbery just prior to his apprehension by Rapp.
As Manson was being taken into custody, additional police units rolled onto the scene, discovered the abandoned fully-loaded Sig Sauer P226 9mm pistol, and made contact with one of the other two individuals who had been part of the fight disturbance.
The other combatant, suffering “facial lacerations” from being pistol-whipped by Manson, was transported to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital for treatment. In spite of his injuries, the 34-year-old victim, himself a rival gang member of Manson’s, “was uncooperative” with police investigators and would not identify either Manson or the third man involved in the public altercation who remains at large.
For his part, Manson was transported to Santa Barbara County Jail and booked on charges of assault with a deadly weapon, receiving stolen property, being a felon in possession of a loaded firearm, being a gang member in possession of a loaded firearm, being a prohibited person in possession of ammunition, possession of a large capacity magazine, participation in a criminal street gang, destruction or concealment of evidence, and resisting or delaying an officer. He remains in custody with his bail set at $150,000.
Photo: Courtesy Santa Barbara County Jail Booking
