– By F. Scott Faulkner
SANTA BARBARA, CA — January 30, 2026
A 70-year-old Carpinteria man who reportedly threatened people with a weapon at a Birnam Wood Golf Club in Santa Barbara was taken into custody January 27.
According to Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department Public Information Officer Raquel
Zick, deputies responded to the golf course pursuant to a 911 Emergency call reporting “a man
confronting individuals while armed with a side-handled baton and behaving aggressively and
causing alarm” among staff and patrons.
When sheriff’s deputies arrived, they located the man inside the facility and learned he had
barricaded himself in the fitness director’s office. Deputies “established a perimeter and
attempted to communicate with him.”
After a short standoff, the man exited the office, dropped the baton and surrendered. As deputies
moved to take him into custody, “he became combative and spat in a deputy’s face.”
A search conducted after the arrest uncovered additional weapons inside the man’s vehicle,
including a loaded handgun, several swords and “escrima-style” fighting sticks, investigators
reported.
The suspect was identified as Chris Ernest Wiedmann, 70, of Carpinteria. He was booked into
the Santa Barbara County Main Jail on a felony count of obstruction, along with multiple
misdemeanor charges that include brandishing a weapon, battery on a peace officer, possession
of a baton, trespassing and carrying a concealed firearm in a vehicle.
Wiedmann remains in custody, with his bail set at $150,000.
