Law and Disorder 11-26
The District Attorney’s Office has no timetable for when, if at all, charges will be filed against the 10 unnamed people who started the Tea Fire by improperly extinguishing a bonfire on 11/12. As of 11/24, District Attorney Eric Hanson said he hadn’t yet seen any reports from the several agencies investigating the blaze. Santa Barbara City College, however, confirmed nine of the “Tea Fire Ten” attended the school. (/teafire10)
•••
Eight-time Grand Slam tennis champ Jimmy Connors was arrested at UCSB on 11/21 following an altercation, the nature of which has not been disclosed by campus officials. Connors allegedly refused to leave the entrance to UCSB’s Thunderdome events center, where the Gaucho men’s basketball team toppled the University of North Carolina Tar Heels 84-67. (/connors1126)
•••
Mark Cameron Mansfield, 42, was arrested on 11/20 and charged with two counts of robbery for the thefts at Brownie’s Market and Victoria Market on 11/18 and 11/19, respectively, after a witness identified his license plate to police. The vehicle was found in a Longs Drugs parking lot and contained drug paraphernalia and hypodermic syringes, which resulted in Mansfield being charged with two counts of possession as well.
•••
After a month-long investigation, detectives with the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department arrested Matthew Reimel, 26, for possession of a controlled substance for sale. Serving a search warrant, detectives found 96 grams of tar heroine, with an estimated street value of $9,600, and more than $10,000 cash in a residence on the 5400 block of El Carro Lane in Carpinteria.
•••
County fire officials on 11/20 identified the cause of an explosion and ensuing structure fire on 11/18 at 225 Stubbs Lane in Orcutt. Captain Eli Iskow stated that the eruption was caused by a build-up of natural gas, though what electrical appliance ignited it has not yet been determined. One person was sent to Marian Medical Center for injuries that Iskow described as “undetermined.” (/explosion1126)
•••
An 11-year-old boy was hit by a car while riding his scooter after he failed to observe a stop sign at the intersection of Emerson and Prospect avenues on 11/20. intersection. The fifth grader at Roosevelt Elementary School suffered only minor injuries, however.
•••
Walker Jameson Price, a 19-year-old UCSB student and Santa Barbara native, died on 10/30, it was announced this week. Price’s cause of death is as of yet unknown and pending a toxicology report. He was reportedly studying at home and later found dead, unable to be revived.
•••
The search for missing Summerland resident Jim Mitchell ended on 11/23 with the discovery of his body about 200 feet down a hillside from his residence on Torito Road. According to reports from the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Department, the investigation has revealed that Mitchell crawled into thick brush before killing himself with a single gunshot to the head. Mitchell was first reported missing on 11/7.
•••
Santa Barbara resident and longtime California Lutheran University benefactor Alma Pearson died on 10/21 after a brief illness. She was 96 years old. Pearson and her husband, Clifford, first donated to the Thousand Oaks college in 1982, in benefit of a library that came to bear her name. A memorial service is scheduled for 2 p.m., 12/2 at 3775 Modoc Road.
