Photo: Curt Cary Carpenter
January 22, 2021 – Santa Barbara, Ca.
Sometimes it’s very difficult for a man to do his job when the local police just won’t cut him the slack to conduct business as usual…particularly when the business is question is that of burglary.
When 54-year-old Ventura resident Curt Cary Carpenter was seen jumping fences to avoid police contact just minutes shy of midnight on the night of January 16th , “officers were able to contain him within a perimeter,” according to Santa Barbara Police Department spokesman Anthony Wagner.
Hemmed in by the cops, Carpenter was eventually discovered “hiding inside a vehicle” and was taken into custody. Shortly thereafter, the cops connected him to another vehicle parked nearby, inside of which they discovered “a loaded 9-mm handgun, a high-end scoped pellet rifle, a cattle prod-style taser, and a large quantity of methamphetamine.”
Off to jail Carpenter—a convicted felon—went, where he was booked on charges of burglary, possession of a loaded firearm, and possession of drugs. He was, however, released “a short time later due to COVID-19 booking restrictions,” and went on his way.
Approximately 60 hours later, however, in the pre-dawn hours of January 19th , cops responded to a “disturbance” call at a downtown Santa Barbara motel. A brief on-scene investigation indicated that a robbery had been in progress and that the miscreant was “hiding in one of the motel rooms.”
Once that individual was identified as Carpenter and tensions mounted for fear that he was armed, the cops “gained entry” into the motel room and tased him to the ground.
At that point, he was taken into custody and found to be in possession of “a loaded Glock handgun, a stun gun bat, a large amount of methamphetamine, heroin, and a large sum of cash.”
Carpenter was transported to Santa Barbara County Jail and was booked on charges of robbery, burglary, making criminal threats, false imprisonment, being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, and resisting arrest. He remains in custody with his bail now set at $1,000,000.
Photo: Courtesy Santa Barbara County Jail Booking
