Santa Barbara County District Attorney Christie Stanley announced on 12/4 that any charges relating to the “Tea Fire Ten”-the students who allegedly started last month’s disastrous wildfire when they failed to extinguish a bonfire fully-would only follow a thorough investigation of the matter and that the District Attorney’s Office would make no further comment until that time. Attorneys began reading the “voluminous” investigation reports from fire officials on 12/1. (/teafire1211)
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Susan Mangan-arrested after 10 years on the lam evading charges that she ran a brothel in Santa Barbara-pled guilty on 12/10 to two counts of pandering by procuring two women to be prostitutes, two felony counts of pimping, and a misdemeanor count of “keeping a house of ill-fame.” The business in question was Anna’s Touch, which investigators raided on Canon Perdido Street in 1998. (/mangan1211)
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An investigation by Santa Barbara Police into the 12/2 robbery of Cigar Empire at 3621 State St. resulted in the arrest of four San Bernardino County men. In the course of the investigation, police learned that the Spudnuts donut shop at 3629 State St. had been robbed as well, and the men were charged with that crime also. (/robbery1211)
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William Sanchez, 69, allegedly died of a heart attack while driving a bus for adults with disabilities on 12/8. Officials said that at the time of the incident, the bus was moving very slowly and crashed into a fence next to a mobile home park in Carpinteria. According to authorities, no passengers were injured.