Tyler Alward
Santa Barbara – Sometimes you just can’t make this stuff up.
If a fiction writer tried to sell the story of the events leading up to the early morning October 7th arrest of 24-year-old Tyler Alward to even the pulpiest of yesteryear’s crime magazines, it would likely be rejected out of hand, so ridiculous are the facts.
Alward in action
It all began just after midnight when a Goleta 7-Eleven store clerk made a 911 Emergency call reporting an armed robbery taking place just moments before.
According to Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department Public Information Officer Kelly Hoover, the victim reported that “an adult male entered the store wearing a ski mask and armed with a handgun,” whereupon a demand was made for cash and booze.
Obviously gauging the value of his life versus the amount of cash at stake, the clerk forked over the cash register funds and the suspect promptly made himself scarce.
Minutes later, SBSD Deputies, including a pair of K-9 units arrived, soon to be joined by University of California Santa Barbara and CHP Officers who immediately initiated an armed search of the area.
The K-9 units quickly picked up an interesting scent and began tracking the suspect as an SBSD Air Support Unit helicopter “searched the area using its infrared FLIR system.
As the search ensued, SBSD Dispatch received a call alerting them to a home invasion in which residents awakened to “find a suspect inside the residence attempting to steal items,” at which point the putative burglar took off into the night.
Deputies responded to the scene and immediately secured the perimeter and began a second search, during which “a male in his underwear who appeared to be a concerned resident” came down the street and asked deputies “what was happening.”
During his brief conversation with deputies while in his briefs, the K-9 units trotted up to Underwear Man and made it apparent that this was the target of their canine olfactory interest. It didn’t take long for a positive identification to be made, and Alward was quickly taken into custody at the scene.
As he was being transported to Santa Barbara County Jail for booking on charges of armed robbery and burglary, a search of Alward’s residence provided substantial evidence connecting him to the convenience store heist. He remains in custody on $50,000 bail.
Photos: Santa Barbara County Jail Booking, Santa Barbara County Sheriffs Department
