Photo: Uriel Blanco
November 6, 2020 – Santa Barbara County, Ca.
Perhaps it was tension resulting from COVID-related restrictions placed upon local area Halloween celebrations as trick-or-treat candy hasn’t been so readily passed around this year…or perhaps it was just another example of the random mayhem that has become all too common on local area sidewalks.
Whatever the cause may have been, the mid-morning October 31 st stabbing in Old Town Goleta at a busy commercial intersection left one man suffering from serious injuries and another man the target of a local area manhunt.
According to Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department Public Information Officer Raquel Zick, the violence occurred at approximately 10:00 a.m. “in front of a retail store.” According to witnesses, the victim was assaulted following “an altercation between two men,” with the assailant quickly fleeing the area on foot.
SBSD detectives worked the investigation into the incident and identified 26-year-old Santa Barbara resident Uriel Blanco as their principal suspect. It took cops five days to locate Blanco at an Eastside Santa Barbara business district intersection, where they made contact with him and took him into custody.
Blanco was transported to Santa Barbara County Jail where he was booked on felony charges of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, and inflicting great bodily injury. He remains in custody with his bail set at $1,000,000.
Photo: Courtesy Santa Barbara County Jail Booking
