Gang Affiliate Arrested for Wielding Machete

A 19-year-old Santa Barbara man with ties to a city street gang was arrested Sunday for allegedly chasing another man with a machete after the two got into a fistfight. Danny Loyola is charged with carrying a concealed dirk or dagger (in this case, a machete) and committing a crime in association with a criminal street gang. Both charges are felonies. At the time of his arrest, Loyola had an outstanding $5,000 warrant for violating probation.

At around 5:45 on Sunday, SBPD officers responded to the 200 block of South Milpas Street on a call of a subject brandishing a machete, said police spokesperson Sgt. Riley Harwood. They soon spotted Loyola hiding behind a parked RV. During the course of their investigation, said Harwood, officers learned Loyola had just been in a fight in a nearby parking lot. After trading a few punches, the two men separated, but Loyola returned to the scene with a machete. He chased the other man who fled into the bathroom of a nearby business and locked himself in.

“This activity was observed by several witnesses and portions of it were captured on video by security cameras in the area,” said Harwood in a statement. “One witness who found himself in close proximity to Loyola informed him that his behavior could get him sent to prison. In an expletive-laced response, Loyola stated his gang affiliation and told the witness that he didn’t care if he went to prison.” Loyola then fled the area with the machete hidden under his flannel shirt. He ditched the two items, but officers recovered both. The man involved in the fight could not be located.

Loyola was book into County Jail on $100,000 bail.