Edward Jesus Garcia
SANTA BARBARA COUNTY — Two weeks after a violent knife attack in the middle of the afternoon on a well-traveled Goleta sidewalk, Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department Public Information Officer Kelly Hoover reported the arrest of 51-year-old Goleta resident Edward Jesus Garcia as the prime suspect.
The January 17th attack in broad daylight, reported by witnesses on the scene to have been the result of an altercation, remains under investigation with both the assailant and victim “familiar with one another…with motivation for the attack still under investigation,” according to Hoover.
On the day of the violent confrontation the victim, a 49-year-old Goleta resident, “was found bleeding from a stab wound to the head,” Hoover reported.
On the day of the attack, SBSD detectives issued a media bulletin “requesting public assistance to locate the suspect.”
At the time, “several weapons” were located at the scene, and in spite of several detailed witness accounts and descriptions of Garcia, no arrest or identification of the suspect was made until February 2nd, when detectives “received information” leading to the identification and location of Garcia.
Just hours later, at approximately 9:20 a.m., through identification of his vehicle, Garcia’s whereabouts were determined.
Contact was made and he was taken into custody on suspicion of “being under the influence of a controlled substance,” and was transported to Santa Barbara County Jail for booking on suspicion of attempted murder, with his bail set at $1 million.
Photo: Courtesy Santa Barbara County Jail Booking
