Repeat Offender Arrested After Violent Fight With Mother

A 20-year-old frequent flier of Santa Barbara’s criminal justice system was arrested Friday after he got into violent confrontation with his mom. Felipe Barrera, said Sheriff’s Department spokesperson Lt. Kelly Moore, started arguing with his mother at around 9 a.m. in a home in the 7400 block of San Blanco Drive. During the fight, Barrera allegedly pushed his mother, grabbed and smashed her cell phone as she tried to call police, then hit her with a sports racket.

The mother and Barrera’s 14-year-old sister fled the home and called the Sheriff’s Department from a nearby gas station. They told officials Barrera was still at the residence and may have access to firearms, Moore said. The Sheriff’s Department’s SWAT team was called in and tracked Barrera to a residence on San Milano Drive, where he had been arrested before.

Authorities made contact with residents of the San Milano Drive home, who claimed Barrera was not inside, but deputies conducted a probation search of the house and located their suspect. One of the residents, a 17-year-old male, was arrested for not being truthful with law enforcement, said Moore. A search of the San Blanco Drive home turned up a modified and concealable .22 caliber rifle.

Barrera was booked into County Jail on the following felony charges: assault with a deadly weapon, destroying a communications device to prevent someone from calling law enforcement, and committing a felony while out on bail. He was also booked on several outstanding arrest warrants.