Anonymous
Brian Christopher Schotz mugshot from January 2018 (Photo: SBPD)
Update by edhat staff
Schotz was arrested in January 2018 for burglarizing Dargan’s and Oreana. The previous article can be read here.
Alert Business Owner Aids Police in Corralling Serial Commercial Burglar
On Wednesday, May 22, 2019, the Santa Barbara Police Department arrested Brian Christopher Schotz, age 44, for commercial burglary. Santa Barbara Police Detectives have linked Schotz to 10 recent retail burglaries in the City of Santa Barbara.
Schotz was released from prison on April 23rd of this year and placed on post release community supervision (PRCS). Schotz was sentenced to prison in early 2018 for several prior commercial burglaries in the City of Santa Barbara dating back to January 2018.
Just prior to the arrest on May 22, 2019, Detectives established a pattern of criminal activity that pointed to Schotz as the culprit in a string of recent commercial burglaries. Police were on the lookout for Schotz, who was outstanding, when an array of burglary-related calls for service were placed into Dispatch on the morning of Wednesday, May 22nd.
At approximately 3:40 A.M. Wednesday, Officers responded to an alarm call in the 300 block of West Carrillo Street. When Officers arrived, they found an empty storefront that had been burglarized — Police found evidence possibly associating the crime to Schotz. Police saturated the area in an effort to locate Schotz.
At 4:30 A.M., a second alarm call was reported to Dispatch from a business located in the first block of Anacapa Street. Officers flooded the area and set up a perimeter. The business and immediate area were searched, however no suspect was found.
While Officers were investigating the incident on Anacapa Street, Dispatch received a call from the owner of a business located in the 200 block of South Milpas Street. That person reported a burglary in-progress via a remote live feed camera posted in his business. The owner worked with Dispatch to direct Police to the suspect inside his business. He provided a business layout, path of approach and detailed suspect description.
Officers swarmed the area and spotted the suspect, now identified as Schotz, inside the business. With the aid of the live feed camera and the owner’s help, Police were able to take Schotz into custody without incident.
Schotz was booked for the four commercial burglaries that occurred on the morning of May 22, 2019 and later charged with six additional commercial burglaries that occurred in the time since Schotz had been released from prison.
Schotz is currently being held at Santa Barbara County Jail.
Related Articles
January 2, 2018: Man Arrested for Burglarizing Dargans and Oreana
Welcome to California. Our system is a joke. Thank the past Attorney General under Moonbeam Brown, her name is Kamala Harris.
I hope not. 🙁
I’m just glad no one was hurt.
The police had their guns drawn, but no Schotz were fired.
Did this guy want to get caught? Or does he get thrills from risky burglaries? Interesting.
I blame the failed 3 strikes law myself and the back room deals.
Rex for the Win…
Sometimes I wish EdHat had emojis. Rex of SB would have deserved a thumb’s up and a laugh!
One of Jerry’s Kids and you can all just look in the mirror when you want to see who passed Prop 57 that lets all these guys out early to terrorize our neighborhoods. Every day on Nextdoor.com, there is a burglary report that you never hear about from the SBPD. In the last week, break ins, catalytic converter thefts, etc and nothing is done. SBPD should have neighborhood substations like the Sheriff and Goleta PD and not some Taj Majal they are planning where no crime will ever be solved.
Some people can not function on their own and actually prefer being incarcerated. They have shelter, food, medical care and when violent crimes are not involved, generally hang out with their buddies in the TV room or in the exercise yard. For some, its a better life.
MONKEY BOY. Hate to break it to you, but Santa Barbara has always had “unreported” crime. Talk to anyone who used to work in law enforcement here back in the 70s and 80s and they will tell you all the “horror stories” of things that happened that never made the news. You don’t wanna know. It’s not worth losing sleep over things you cannot control. Blame it on the Governor, if you like, but the truth of the matter is there are too many humans on the planet. More people, less money to go around, more crime.
This sucks, BUT, he’s a non-violent offender. I think the CA prisons should release all the people serving extremely large sentences for dealing or possessing marijuana and make room for these serial burglars.
@9:49PM “More people, less money to go around” No, that is not how the economy works. There is not a finite amount of money that has to redistributed amongst a widening pool of recipients. We are no longer on the gold standard. There is an infinite amount of money in the ‘pool’ available. Econ 101.