Photo: Alexiah Ramirez
Santa Barbara County – The Lompoc Police Department had a busy several hours on the evening of Monday, March 9th. According to LPD spokesman Sgt. Scott Morgan, officers were on routine patrol through city streets at approximately 6:00 p.m. when they “heard five to six gunshots” nearby.
The cops responded immediately to the 800 block of Lompoc’s North F Street and found few witnesses. But—in keeping with contemporary channels of communication among area youth—the LPD’s social media app reported “a pair of anonymous tips” indicating that several juveniles had been involved in a street fight that evolved into gunplay. The social media feed even went to far as to report those involved had “fled on foot into an apartment” within walking distance of the reported gunfire.
Mendez
The cops promptly went to the reported location and “after obtaining consent to enter the apartment,” searched the premises and discovered no fewer than “seven suspects” cowering together in a bedroom where an undisclosed amount of methamphetamine and a digital scale were in view.
With seven suspects thusly detained, detectives accessed video surveillance recordings of the scene of the shooting and observed an assault wherein several suspects attached a lone male victim and “punched him, kicked him, and threw a heavy bottle at him before retreating.” Minutes later, one of the suspects presented a firearm and “fired at the victim but did not strike him.”
Morgan
It was subsequently determined that four of the six males involved are 15-year-olds, all of whom were arrested and transported to Santa Barbara County Juvenile Detention Center where they were charged with possession of a loaded firearm, possession of narcotics for sale, possession of narcotics while armed with a loaded firearm, and participation in a criminal street gang.
The three adults involved were 18-year-old Angel Morgan, 20-year-old Sergio Mendez, and 21-year-old Alexiah Ramirez, all residents of Lompos. Morgan was booked into Lompoc Jail and charged with assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a loaded firearm, possession of narcotics for sale, and participation in a criminal street gang. Mendez was booked on those charges as well as for probation violation while Ramirez was booked on charges of harboring, concealing, or aiding during the commission of a felony, and obstructing or resisting arrest.
Photos: Courtesy Lompoc Police Department Booking
