Three teenagers arrested for armed robbery in Santa Barbara

22 September 2024

By KAREN VELIE

Officers arrested three teenagers in downtown Santa Barbara on Saturday afternoon for allegedly using a knife in a robbery of two other teenagers, police said.

A group of six to eight youths, one of them with a knife, robbed two 15-year-olds of their e-bikes in a city parking lot between Ortega and Anacapa Street. When officers arrived, they found two youths on the stolen e-bikes.

After abandoning the e-bikes, the suspects attempted to flee on foot, at which point a teenager knocked down an elderly pedestrian. Officers arrested the teenagers, one of whom was carrying a knife. Officers also arrested a third suspect.

The elderly man suffered minor injuries.

Officials booked the three 15-year-old suspects into the Santa Barbara County Juvenile Detention Center and charged them with robbery, conspiracy and elder abuse.