The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office investigates the scene of an alleged murder attempt in Goleta.
Man arrested on suspicion of attempted murder
GOLETA —Santa Barbara County sheriff’s deputies have arrested a Goleta man on suspicion of attempted murder.
At approximately 8:12 a.m. Tuesday, sheriff’s deputies responded to the first block of Kellogg Avenue in Goleta, along with County Fire and medics in response to a stabbing.
When deputies arrived on scene, they learned that the suspect had fled the scene and that the male victim had been stabbed multiple times in the upper torso. The victim was transported by ambulance to an area hospital with serious injuries. Deputies, as well as county air support and a K9 unit, conducted a thorough search of the area for the suspect, but did not locate him in the immediate vicinity. Sheriff’s detectives immediately began an investigation into the identity and location of the suspect.
Detectives identified the suspect as 41-year-old Rafael Castro Jr. of Goleta and learned that he was familiar with the victim. Detectives tracked him to the 100 block of Orange Avenue and took him into custody at approximately 11:14 a.m. Tuesday, just hours after the stabbing.
When Mr. Castro was searched, detectives discovered a “ghost” gun or unserialized gun, said Raquel Zick, the public information officer for the sheriff’s office.
Mr. Castro was booked at the Main Jail in Santa Barbara on suspicion of attempted murder and as a felon on suspicion of possession of a firearm and suspicion of prohibited possession of ammunition. All three are felonies.
He is being held on $1 million bail.
The victim is expected to recover from his injuries.
— Katherine Zehnder
Project Opioid Santa Barbara County announced
BUELLTON — Sheriff Bill Brown and community leaders Wednesday announced the start of Project Opioid Santa Barbara County.
The project was discussed during a news conference at the Santa Ynez Valley Marriott in Buellton.
“Project Opioid empowers leaders to confront the overdose crisis by aligning around one shared goal: to reduce opioid deaths in their communities,” according to a statement from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office. “Project Opioid educates leaders on how to build a coalition, launch a regional overdose initiative, and promote high level advocacy to transform and save the greatest number of lives in their communities.
“Project Opioid Santa Barbara County has brought together key area leaders to conduct an assessment of existing community resources and develop meaningful solutions to reduce the impact of the overdose crisis,” according to the statement.
Wednesday’s news conference featured the release of a report, “The Changing Overdose Crisis in California: A Community Needs Assessment of Santa Barbara County.” Its findings included the statement that fatal overdoses are rising at an unprecedented rate in California and Santa Barbara County.
The report also found fentanyl has fueled overdoses in Santa Barbara County.
“Santa Barbara residents who overdose are taking mixed illicit drugs, most combined with fentanyl, either knowingly or unknowingly,” according to the Sheriff’s Office’s summation of the report.
“ Overdose deaths are highest amongst whites but are growing at a higher rate among the Hispanic community in Santa Barbara County,” according to the findings.
— Dave Mason
