Santa Barbara County – It was just after nightfall on November 10th when Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department and Fire Department units responded to a Buellton residence to investigate the report of a suicidal individual.
According to SBSD Public Information Officer Kelly Hoover, as soon as uniformed personnel showed up and attempted to contact the male subject, he “made statements indicating he would fill up his apartment with gas and blow up the building.”
The cops and firemen took that threat seriously, shutting down gas service to the apartment complex and evacuating nearby residents while notifying everyone in the vicinity to “shelter in place.” With the subject unwilling to exit his apartment or to communicate with deputies, an arrest warrant was obtained.
Five hours later, with their arrest warrant in hand, deputies “made entry” and immediately saw that the man threatening suicide meant business.
While he was “combative with deputies,” he was also “in urgent need of medical care,” and was promptly transported to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital for medical treatment of wounds that had apparently been self-inflicted by a box cutter.
The suspect, a Buellton resident, remains unnamed by law enforcement “due to his mental health condition,” but he faces charges of making criminal threats and resisting arrest.
