Christian Catalan
SANTA BARBARA — By comparison with almost any other recreational beach areas throughout the state, the white shoreline sands of Santa Barbara would be considered a safe and calm place of respite from the storm and stress of inner city crime.
But such comparisons often fail in the face of violent events such as the one that occurred at Goleta Public Beach Park on the late afternoon hours of September 16, 2017.
According to Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Department Public Information Officer Kelly Hoover, it was “just after 5:00 p.m. on September 16th” when a 30-year-old man from Goleta “was stabbed multiple times near the restrooms at Goleta Beach,” following which he managed to get himself to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital for treatment of “non-life threatening injuries.”
Immediately following the report of the attack to law enforcement, SBSD K-9 Units and Air Support Units flooded the area and located “a total of six people” who were detained but not arrested at the time. At that point, detectives attached to the SBSD Special Investigations Bureau looked into the situation “to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident.”
Exactly one month later, with their detective work producing substantial evidence of gang activity as the cause of the attack, detectives from the Special Investigations Bureau and the Criminal Investigations Division served a half-dozen search and arrest warrants “at six separate locations throughout Santa Barbara County.”
The service of those warrants led to the arrests of four male juveniles and 21-year-old Goleta resident Christian Catalan. The juveniles were transported to SBCO Juvenile Detention Center, while Catalan was given a free ride to Santa Barbara County Jail where he was booked on charges of assault with a deadly weapon, assault causing great bodily injury, and activity in furtherance of a criminal street gang.
Photo: Courtesy Santa Barbara County Jail Booking
