Photo: Elias Murcia-Aplicano
Santa Barbara County – As if the people of California didn’t have enough to worry about in the statewide effort to curb the spread of the COVID-19 contagion, it appears that some violent criminals refuse to heed the directive issued by medical authorities to maintain a safe “social distance” from one another.
Case in point are the alleged actions of 25-year-old Solvang resident Elias Murcia-Aplicano late on the night of March 21st. According to Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department Public Information Officer Raquel Zick, the SBSD Dispatch Center received a 911 Emergency call at approximately 10:00 p.m. that night which reported “an assault with a deadly weapon” on the downtown streets of Solvang.
Deputies quickly responded to the reported location, the city streets even more quiet than usual pursuant to Governor Newsom’s publicized request that residents only leave their homes for “essential” purposes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Deputies soon learned that a local area hospital had minutes earlier received a patient suffering from “serious knife wound injuries.”
The immediately ensuing investigation and interview with the male victim of the attack identified Murcia-Aplicano as the assailant. With that information in hand, deputies located Murcia-Aplicano and took him into custody. He was transported to Santa Barbara County Jail, where he was booked on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon other than a firearm, with his bail set at $30,000.
Additional witnesses to the attack are currently being sought with the admonition for anyone “with additional information about this incident” to contact the Solvang Sheriff’s Station at (805) 686-5000.
Photo: Courtesy Santa Barbara County Jail Booking
