Photo: Michael Angelo Auclair
March 9, 2022 – Santa Barbara, Ca.
The night of February 28 th was a busy one for Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department deputies. According to SBSD Public Information Officer Raquel Zick, “an indecent exposure was reported at approximately 5:05 p.m., and was followed in quick succession by similar incidents,” with all reports coming from the Isla Vista community adjacent to the UCSB campus.
Just two hours later, deputies were alerted to the report of a man assaulting a woman as he “fondled her breast while covering her mouth,” and then promptly fleeing the scene. Those reports led to an intensive search of the area involving the use of both aerial support and a K-9 team.
No suspect was located that evening, but detectives subsequently accessed local area residential “home surveillance videos” which led to the identification of 30-year-old Port Hueneme resident Michael Angelo Auclair as the perpetrator. As additional reports of similar assaults came in to detectives, it was determined that Auclair had “exposed himself” to “at least 10 women and girls in Isla Vista” the prior month.
On the afternoon of March 4 th , Auclair was located in the City of Lompoc and taken into custody. He was transported to Santa Barbara County Jail, where he was booked on six felony counts of indecent exposure, sexual battery by restraint, and attempted kidnapping, with his bail set at $1,000,000.
Photo: Courtesy Lompoc Police Department/San Luis Obispo Times
