Jacob San Nicholas
CARPINTERIA — Early in the evening of February 22nd, Santa Barbara Police Department, following an unproductive high-speed pursuit of a vehicle being driven recklessly through the city’s streets which was abandoned in the interests of public safety, issued a “be on the lookout” alert to all area law enforcement agencies.
According to Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department Public Information Officer Kelly Hoover, a white 2012 Mazda had been spotted “driving at a high rate of speed, running stoplights” and had failed to yield to a routine traffic stop.
Rogers
The suspect vehicle was soon spotted by a sheriff’s patrol unit heading south on U.S. 101, but deputies “were not able to pursue” and lost sight of the Mazda when it exited the freeway at a southbound Summerland offramp.
As it happens, the residential area served by that offramp is home to internationally famous celebrities, with average single-family beachfront property values well in excess of $20 million.
Less than an hour after the police pursuit began, one of those residents called police to report an abandoned vehicle “in her driveway.” Responding CHP and SBSD deputies quickly identified the suspect vehicle and brought a pair of K-9 “deputies,” Odin and Magnum, into the equation.
Two hours later, 30-year-old Jacob San Nicholas, a resident of Santa Barbara, and 23-year-old San Diegan Erica Rogers were located by Magnum “hiding underneath a house in the crawlspace” on Padaro Lane.
San Nicholas and Rogers were dragged out of their hiding place at gunpoint, arrested, and booked into Santa Barbara County Jail. Ms Rogers was charged with possession of narcotics and drug paraphernalia, with her bail set at $170,000, while San Nicholas was booked for felony evading, sales of methamphetamine, sale and transportation of a controlled substance, possession for sale of a controlled substance, and probation violation, which earned him a no-bail hold.
Photos: Courtesy Santa Barbara County Jail booking
