August 11, 2021 – Santa Barbara, Ca.
It was early in the evening of August 6th when Santa Barbara Police Department patrol units and downtown Santa Barbara Fire Department engine companies responded to a report that a pickup truck had just crashed through the front windows of a neighborhood laundromat.
According to SBPD spokesman Sgt. Ethan Ragsdale, the initial reports also indicated that prior to slamming through the front of the laundromat, the truck “had just struck a man.” Upon arrival at the scene, officers immediately summoned medical transport and the victim was rushed to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital with “minor to moderate” injuries.
The immediately ensuing investigation indicated that the driver of the truck, 51-year-old Santa Barbara resident Patrick M. Tobin, spotted the victim “near the front of the Mesa Laundromat” and then “drove his pickup truck intentionally toward the victim, striking him and propelling him about 20 feet through the large front glass windows.” Evidence further indicated that Tobin and the victim “had a strained acquaintanceship from past contacts.”
Tobin was contacted—after subsequently crashing his pickup truck into a nearby concrete pillar—and was taken into custody. He was then transported to Santa Barbara County Jail, where he was booked on charges of attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon, with his bail set at $1,000,000.
Photo: Courtesy Santa Barbara Police Department
