Juvenile Arrested for Possession of Loaded Firearm Near Isla Vista Beach

sbsheriff
sbsheriff
Press releases written by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office
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Crime
Santa Barbara Sheriff (Edhat)

Just after midnight on November 1, 2025, Sheriff’s deputies contacted a group of five juveniles and one adult at the beach access point near the 6500-block of Del Playa Drive. The juveniles were detained for violating the county’s nighttime curfew ordinance.

During the investigation, one 16-year-old male juvenile consented to a search of his backpack, where deputies found several fixed-blade knives.

Deputies then conducted a probable cause search of the juvenile and located a loaded .357 magnum revolver in his pants pocket. The firearm was later confirmed to have been reported stolen out of Arizona.

The juvenile in possession of the weapons was arrested and booked into Juvenile Hall. The remaining juveniles were cited for violating the nighttime curfew ordinance and released to their parents.

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Press releases written by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office

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9 Comments

  1. Good work by SBSO keeping our community safe. Police are not required to obtain a search warrant perform a cursory search for weapons on a person which is known as a ‘Terry stop’ (Terry v. Ohio), so it seems more likely that they obtained a search warrant to the suspects backpack.

    • “During the investigation, one 16-year-old male juvenile consented to a search of his backpack”

      Police need.to have reasonable articulable suspicion that a crime has been commited or is about to be committed in order to initiate a terry stop. In this case, the possession of fixed blade.knives (dirks or daggers) allowed.the initiation of the search for weapons on the suspects person. The minor ok’d a search of his backpack previously.

        • ZIPS – what’s the confusion here? They consented to the initial search after being stopped for violating curfew, which revealed the knives that then gave rise to the probable cause to search the kid’s pockets.

          This was not a Terry Stop.

          A Terry Stop would be if the cops thought they had weapons from the get go. They did not. No warrant needed either because of the probable cause.

          I think we can all agree this was a good outcome.

  2. A big thank you to LE! This kind of bad behavior happens far too much in Isla Vista and at the beach near the Bacara Resort. Parents who have students in local high schools should be made aware that the beach areas in IV/Ellwood are often no longer safe after the sun goes down. Crime happens at the beach areas in SB as well, and maybe even more so than the “Goleta” area beaches. Time to start increased patrols so the situation does not become even worse. Unfortunately, the days of fun night-time bon fires at the beach have come to an end.

    • BEES – much more crime at the SB beaches and also SB high school parties. Kids are out here every weekend safely hanging out at bonfires at Haskells. Sure, there was some violence at a party last year I believe, but that was some out of town gang-related BS. Every other weekend there are multiple gatherings out there that go off without a problem and allow kids to relax and have some fun.

      And NO, they have not “come to an end” nor should they.

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