Three Arizona men were arrested in Goleta on Thursday in connection with a robbery a few hours earlier in Carpinteria, according to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office.
MPs were dispatched around 5:40 am to the Chevron gas station on Via Real and Santa Monica Road in Carpinteria, after a woman reported having been stolen by her companions, said Raquel Zick, the sheriff’s public information officer.
The woman was reportedly with three men in a vehicle when they stole it, and they left her behind and fled the scene, Zick said.
About three hours later, an alert citizen who learned of the theft reported to the sheriff’s dispatchers that the suspect vehicle, which apparently had a flat tire, was in a tire store on block 200 on South Fairview Avenue, Zick said.
The deputies converged on the area and took three men into custody without incident.
One of the men was armed with a firearm, added Zick.
South Fairview Avenue was closed or not long after the deputies arrested the trio.
By mid-afternoon, the three men – whose names were not yet available – were still being questioned, said Zick, and had not been fined at Santa Barbara County Jail.
Details of the charges they could face were not available.
Zick praised the citizen who alerted deputies to the suspect’s whereabouts, noting that he remained at a safe distance while transmitting the information.
Check back with Noozhawk for updates on this story.
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