Battery Suspect Arrested Nearly 4 Hours After Swimming Into the Ocean in Attempt to Flee From Authorities
SANTA BARBARA, CA — November 11, 2026 — A Santa Barbara man wanted in connection with an alleged battery was arrested Nov. 10 after refusing to surrender to police and swimming into the ocean, where he remained for nearly four hours.
According to Santa Barbara Police Department spokesman Lt. Ethan Ragsdale, the incident began around 7:30 a.m. when patrol officers began searching for 31-year-old Santa Barbara resident Leonardo Silvestre Castro following witness reports of a battery at a popular beachfront park.
Officers located Castro a short time later, but when they attempted to contact him, he fled into the ocean, entered a drainage culvert and refused to surrender or comply with officers’ commands, Ragsdale said.
Minutes later, Santa Barbara City Fire Department personnel responded and discovered Castro inside a concrete groin extending into the ocean. Harbor Patrol deputies, the SBPD Crisis Negotiation Response Team, the Co-Response Mental Health Assessment Team and search-and-rescue swimmers also responded.
At one point, search-and-rescue personnel attempted to use flotation devices to help Castro out of the turbulent water. However, he remained inside the structure, holding onto a bolt embedded in the concrete.
Nearly four hours after the incident began, officers were able to remove Castro from the structure. He was showing early signs of hypothermia.
Castro was initially transported to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital for treatment before being transferred to the Santa Barbara County Jail, where he was booked on charges including felony battery and evading arrest.
He remains in custody without bail pending a mental health evaluation.
– by F. Scott Faulkner
