Photo: Trenell Roshean Steel
Santa Barbara – The chopper cops were busy on October 31. Based upon their actions in the pre-dawn hours, members of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff/Fire Air Support Team must be light sleepers.
At approximately 3:40 a.m. on the 31st Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department patrol units were notified of “suspicious activity. ” the report came from a Rite Aid pharmacy in the City of Solvang.
Steel stealing
Responding units discovered “obvious signs of a burglary” while a nearby patrol unit traveling on northbound on U.S. Highway 101 observed a vehicle making a U-turn and suddenly reversing its direction of travel.
The cops on the freeway activated their emergency lights in an attempt to pull the suspect vehicle over. The driver of that car accelerated away at a high rate of speed.
Those speeds were so extreme that pursuing deputies ended their chase for fear of endangering the motoring public.
At that time, a SBSD Air Support helicopter arrived over the scene and “continued to track the vehicle.” Public Safety Dispatchers communicated with forces on the ground to provide updates as to the fleeing vehicle’s location.
Additional CHP units in the Goleta area identified the vehicle as it traveled southbound on Highway 101. It eventually exited the freeway in downtown Santa Barbara.
Shortly thereafter, the suspect vehicle was located by a member of the Santa Barbara Police Department and 26-year-old Trenell Roshean Steel, a resident of Carson, California, was spotted nearby.
Consequently, the SBPD officer made contact with Steel, who matched the description of one of the suspects reported on the surveillance video at the Rite Aid in Solvang. A search of Steel’s pockets revealed the keys to the suspect vehicle. A further search of the car revealed “a large amount of stolen prescription medication” stolen from the Rite Aid.
At the Santa Barbara County Jail, Steel was booked on multiple charges of burglary, felony evasion, and multiple vehicle code violations. In addition, his bail is $75,000. The investigation is ongoing, with Steel’s accomplice remaining at large.
Photos: Courtesy Santa Barbara County Jail Booking, Santa Barbara County Sheriffs
