Convicted Sex Offender Attempts to Flee Out of Santa Barbara County Courthouse
– by F. Scott Faulkner
SANTA BARBARA, CA — January 18, 2026
A former UC Santa Barbara student convicted of violent sex crimes attempted to run from
custody outside the courthouse moments after the jury returned guilty verdicts on the afternoon
of January 16th.
Arian Eteghaei, 23, was found guilty Friday of three felony counts after a three-month trial that
accused him of sexually assaulting five women and battering a sixth. Jurors convicted him of
sexual penetration with a foreign object and domestic violence battery involving two separate
victims.
According to Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department Public Information Officer Raquel
Zick, “shortly after the verdicts were read,” Superior Court Judge Von Deroian ordered sheriff’s
bailiffs to remand Eteghaei into custody.
Eteghaei was then handcuffed in court with his hands secured in front, and moved by deputies
toward “a secure holding area to await transportation to jail.” During that transfer, he suddenly
bolted away from deputies “and attempted to flee,” prompting a brief chase and takedown about
a block from the Santa Barbara County Courthouse. “He was quickly apprehended by deputies,”
Zick reported.
Eteghaei remains in custody, possibly facing additional charges to be added to his sentencing on
the sexual assault convictions.
