Photo: David Olaf Barajas
Santa Barbara – Santa Barbara recently celebrated its annual Fiesta. This is when 100,000 or more visitors flock to join in the celebration of the city’s heritage. It is a week of historic community celebration…and of intensified law enforcement efforts.
Evidence of that came on the evening of August 2nd. The SBCSD’s Special Investigations Bureau provided “saturation patrols” as described by SBSD Public Information Officer Kelly Hoover. Furthermore, they were working in close cooperation with the Santa Barbara Police Department.
Isael Elenes
Those patrols, designed to provide for the public safety, included a traffic stop that night on a car driven by 29-year-old Santa Maria resident David Olaf Barajas.
Barajas, a suspected member of a Santa Maria criminal street gang, “appeared nervous” when contacted by deputies.
In the first place, cops immediately suspected that he was under the influence of a controlled substance. This prompted a series of questions leading to the discovery that Barajas’ passenger, 30-year-old Santa Maria resident Isael Jesus Elenes “was on active probation for trafficking narcotics” with a prior history of trying to evade arrest in a motor vehicle.
Barajas’ cache
Once they identified Elenes, the SBPD K9 “Jack” arrived on the scene to conduct a probation search of the vehicle. It didn’t take long for “Jack” to sniff out “more than 25 grams of methamphetamine, nearly 5 grams of heroin, cash, and a loaded semi-automatic handgun” stashed inside the car.
Consequently, officers took Barajas and Elenes into custody and transported them to Santa Barbara County Jail. There they were booked on charges of possession of drugs for sales, being felons in possession of a firearm, and being under the influence of a controlled substance. Elenes remains in custody without bail; Barajas’ bail is $500,000.
Photos: Courtesy Santa Barbara County Jail Booking, Santa Barbara Police Department
