Update: Santa Barbara Police Arrest Barricaded Suspect, Reopen Roads

Woman and Daughter Escape from Second-Story Bathroom Window

Credit: Courtesy

Suspect German Hernandez Jr., 27, was taken into custody Thursday afternoon after barricading himself in an apartment near Verano Drive and San Martin Way. | Credit: SBPD

UPDATE 6:15 P.M.: The suspect who barricaded himself inside a home near Verano Drive and San Martin Way was safely taken into custody at around 1:30 p.m., according to a statement released Thursday evening by Santa Barbara Police Department spokesperson Sgt. Ethan Ragsdale.

The suspect, identified as 27-year-old transient German Hernandez Jr., was arrested in a bedroom on the second level of the home after a nearly four-hour standoff. According to police, he had just been released from jail yesterday for a similar incident that occurred in the county earlier this week.

Hernandez Jr., who reportedly resisted arrest and spat on officers during his arrest, was not injured but transported to Cottage Hospital ER for a medical clearance and evaluation. Once medically cleared, he was taken to Santa Barbara County Jail and booked on $75,000 bail for committing a felony while out on bail (felony), burglary (felony), looting during a state of emergency (felony), resisting arrest (misdemeanor), and prowling (misdemeanor).

The nearby roads closed by police during the standoff were reopened shortly after the incident ended.

ORIGINAL STORY: Santa Barbara police are currently attempting to coax a burglary suspect out of a home near the Highway 154 interchange and have closed nearby roads, including the intersections of Verano Drive and La Colina Road, San Martin Way and Rosario Drive, and Verano Drive and Primavera Road.

Sgt. Ethan Ragsdale said that at about 9:20 a.m. this Thursday, 9-1-1 dispatchers received a call of a burglary in progress from a resident who had hidden in her upstairs bathroom with her daughter while the suspect rummaged on the ground floor. “Multiple officers responded to the area and were able to safely extricate the residents from a second-story bathroom window using a fire department ladder,” Ragsdale said.

The suspect is refusing all verbal commands to exit the home, Ragsdale said. A perimeter has been established with SWAT, Crisis Negotiation Team, and County Mental Health personnel at the scene. “It is believed there is no threat to the public at this time,” Ragsdale said, but police are asking everyone to avoid the area. There is no threat to any of the schools in the area, he said.

This is a developing story. Check back for additional details as they become available.

Support the Santa Barbara Independent through a long-term or a single contribution.