$250K Bail for Assault with Deadly Weapon with Vehicle and Firearm
Photo: Image of suspect Leonel Narcisco Sanchez | Santa Maria Police Department
A two-month-long investigation by the Santa Maria Police Department’s Detective Bureau into the circumstances surrounding the February 1st pre-dawn shooting that wounded a 15-year-old girl may have come to an end with the arrest of the trigger-man.
According to SMPD spokesman Lt. Daniel Rios, it all began at 3:15 a.m. on February 1st in a neighborhood park where “a group of young adults and juveniles were hanging out.”
Evidence indicates that “a second group of individuals arrived” at the part, whereupon “a physical fight” ensued. When the second group jumped into a car to leave the scene, “the driver attempted to run over” members of the first group.
Moments later, the driver stopped the car and “fired shots at the other group.” One of those rounds struck the teenage girl and inflicted a minor wound. Over the next two months, the investigation that followed led to the identification of 23-year-old Santa Maria resident Leonel Narciso Sanchez as the principal suspect.
On the morning of April 10th, detectives obtained an arrest warrant for Sanchez. When Sanchez was observed driving down a Santa Maria thoroughfare at approximately 10:30 a.m., he was pulled over in a traffic stop, contacted, and taken into custody.
Sanchez was then transported to Santa Barbara County Jail, where he was booked on charges of shooting from a vehicle, assault with a deadly weapon (vehicle), and assault with a deadly weapon (firearm). He remains in custody with his bail set at $250,000.
