Two Santa Barbara Men Arrested Downtown for Stealing a Vehicle

Santa Barbara Police arrested two men Friday morning after locating a stolen vehicle that had been taken from a downtown parking lot and then driven back to the same location, according to a department news release.

Officers were dispatched around 9:20 a.m. May 1 to City Lot 11 in the 500 block of Anacapa Street for a report of a stolen vehicle.

After meeting with the owner and broadcasting a description, patrol officers soon spotted the vehicle driving nearby and followed it as it returned to Lot 11. The vehicle was a blue Mitsubishi SUV with Nevada license plates.

Police said the car was occupied by two adult males. After parking, both exited and began walking away before officers quickly detained them without incident.

The suspects were identified as Santa Barbara residents 33-year-old Blanton Hamdan and 43-year-old Jamarco Solitaire. The vehicle was recovered and returned to its owner.

Hamdan and Solitaire were later booked into the Santa Barbara County Jail on suspicion of vehicle theft and additional narcotics-related charges.

Caught! Minutes after hearing of a stolen Mitsubishi with out of state plates in downtown Santa Barbara. police units spotted it and swarmed the vehicle in a parking lot on Anacapa St. Two suspects were detained at gunpoint as part of the investigation. 10:20 a.m. pic.twitter.com/VLHiEA1H8C

— John Palminteri (@JohnPalminteri) May 1, 2026