November 11, 2021 – Santa Barbara, Ca.
With “use of force” issues prominent in the current law enforcement zeitgeist, hesitation on the part of cops to apply serious physical force upon arrestees may have been a causative factor in the serious injury of a Santa Barbara Police Department officer in the pre-dawn hours of November 10th.
According to SBPD spokesman Sgt. Ethan Ragsdale, it was just after 1:30 a.m. when officers responded to the report of “a large fight involving multiple people” one of whom was “possibly armed with a knife” on a downtown street. Arriving at the location, the cops made contact with 29-year-old Lompoc resident Anthony Isaac Ramirez. Ramirez wasted no time in threatening to fight the officers in spite of the fact that his hand was “bleeding profusely.”
Demonstrating little interest in being contacted by the cops, Ramirez failed to do as he was ordered and “had to be physically restrained in order to be taken into custody.” What happened next sounds like a scene out of a bad TV cop show. “Ramirez was so combative he was able to violently push one of the arresting officers, causing him to lose his balance and
strike his head” on a police car fender. At that point, Ramirez reportedly wheeled around and kicked the cop squarely “in the face while he was on the ground,” knocking him unconscious.
With the help of paramedics who had arrived on the scene, the cops managed to subdue Ramirez with sedatives. Both Ramirez and the injured officer were transported to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital. After his hand wound was dutifully treated, Ramirez was then taken to Santa Barbara County Jail, where he was booked on multiple charges, including felony battery on a peace officer, battery causing great bodily injury, and resisting a peace officer with violence. He remains in custody with his bail set at $50,000.
