Party Fight Ends in Prison Terms
Santa Barbara – Plea deals pursuant to charges of attempted murder arising from an April 13th altercation at a Mesa area neighborhood party will see Michael Hardy, 23, and Sean Crane, 24, headed to state prison for eight and seven year terms, respectively.
Michael Hardy
Hardy and Crane, according to Santa Barbara Assistant District Attorney Anthony Davis, were both involved in more than one fight on the night in question, and each were armed with knives at the time. “Police arrived to find two victims, one in extremely critical condition,” Davis reported to the media following the sentencing.
Following a police investigation that included the questioning of multiple witnesses to the fight, multiple arrests were made that night, including that of one of the stabbing victims, who was subsequently not charged with any crime. At the time of the April 13th stabbings, Hardy was out on bail in connection with another assault that took place in December 2011, and was awaiting sentencing on charges of assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury, which earned him a sentencing enhancement consigning him to the eight year term.
Sean Crane
As noted by D.A. Davis in his reports to the media, Crane faced charges of attempted murder with a potential maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. His plea of guilty to assault with a deadly weapon earned him a sentence of no less than seven years.
Davis noted that the victims—one of whom was seriously injured by four stab wounds—were lucky to have survived. “To be quite honest,” Davis commented in his media statements about the older of the victims, a 41-year-old man, “I think it’s a miracle he’s even alive.”
Photos: courtesy Santa Barbara County Jail Booking
Read more:
KeyT: Mesa Stabbing Plea Deals
EdHat: Attempted Homicide Arrests
Noozhawk: Three Suspects Plead Not Guilty in Mesa Stabbings Case
Santa Barbara Independent: Mesa Stabbing Suspects Strike Plea Deals
