Photo: Stock Image
By F. Scott Faulkner
Santa Barbara County, CA
A 19-year-old Isla Vista man, Joshua Collard, was arrested just before midnight on November 18 after jumping
off a bluff and into the dark, roiling waters of the Pacific Ocean. This remarkable leap of faith
was an attempt to escape Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department uniformed patrol deputies
who had responded to a 911 Emergency call reporting “a disturbance” involving deadly threats to
others.
According to SBSD Public Information Officer Raquel Zick, that call described “a man causing a
disturbance, punching a victim, vandalizing a vehicle, and threatening to shoot several
individuals.” When deputies arrived at the reported scene of the disturbance, they spotted Collard, who matched the description of the suspect described in the 911 call.
While their interest in making contact with Collard was at a high level of sincerity, he didn’t
respond cooperatively and took off running “toward the ocean.” With no where else to go and
with the ocean less than a block away, Collard found himself cornered and quickly “jumped off
the bluffs” in an attempt to continue his flight but upon landing on the beach some 40 feet below,
found himself “trapped” by the incoming high tide.
Unable to climb back up the steep embankment or to swim past the pounding shoreline surf,
Collard ultimately required the services of Santa Barbara County Fire Department personnel to
haul him up from the beach.
Back on dry land, Collard was arrested and transported to Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital for a
medical evaluation. Once medically cleared, Collard was transported to Santa Barbara County
Jail where he was booked on charges of criminal threats, assault with force likely to cause great
bodily injury, vandalism, fighting in public, and resisting arrest. His bail was set at $50,000.
