Five juveniles have been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after two violent incidents in the Santa Barbara area, officials said Tuesday.
The arrests stem from two related incidents that occurred on March 6 in which a 14-year-old was severely beaten in Goleta by a group wielding hammers, bats, pipes and a machete, and then others were attacked in a similar way in Carpinteria, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
Search warrants served Tuesday and on March 31 resulted in the arrest of five juveniles.
All five were booked in Santa Maria juvenile hall on suspicion of attempted murder, attempted murder in association with a criminal street gang, conspiracy to commit attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury and personal infliction of great bodily injury, the Sheriff’s Office said.
The first incident was reported in the 5700 block of Hollister Avenue in Goleta about 7:45 p.m. March 6, when deputies located a 14-year-old boy with severe injuries, including multiple lacerations to the head, officials said.
The boy was immediately taken to a local hospital for emergency care. A second victim was also attacked but less severely. No information about the identities of the victims was released.
The suspects had already fled the scene when deputies arrived.
The same night, around 9:40 p.m., deputies responded to the 4500 block of Carpinteria Avenue in Carpinteria to investigate a fight in which several male suspects, armed with the same type of weapons, had attempted to assault another group of males, officials said.
No victims were injured during the second incident, and the suspects again fled before deputies arrived.
Sheriff’s detectives determined that the two attacks were committed by the same people using the same weapons.
On March 31, they issued two search warrants in Santa Barbara and arrested three juvenile suspects. On Tuesday, detectives served another couple search warrants and arrested two additional juvenile suspects.
No information on their identities, including ages, were available.
