Edhat Staff
A dramatic situation unfolded at Sunstone Winery in Santa Ynez as an armed individual barricaded himself within the property’s villa for 24 hours starting Friday night.
The incident began at approximately 6:15 pm when Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to the venue in the 100 block of N. Refugio Road for a report of trespassing.
When deputies arrived, they learned that 21-year-old Frederick Miles Rice was barricading himself inside a room, armed with a sword, and vandalizing property, according to Sheriff’s Office.
The Sheriff’s Office Crisis Negotiation Team and the Special Enforcement Team responded to assist.
Over 24 hours later, on Saturday, September 14, 2024, at approximately 6:57 p.m., Rice surrendered to deputies and was taken into custody without incident.
Rice will be booked at the Northern Branch Jail for burglary (misdemeanor) and vandalism (felony) with a bail of $50,000.
According to The Independent, eyewitnesses stated Rice allegedly uploaded a video on social media entitled “Suicide — Taylor’s version,” a video that has since been removed, and wrote “Call TS” on a wall within the villa, an apparent reference to pop star Taylor Swift.
The villa was reportedly rented for a wedding and the wedding party was off-site for a rehearsal dinner when Rice broke in.
The Rice family founded the winery more than three decades ago before selling it to the Cabugos family roughly five years back. Members of the Rice family were reportedly at the scene, making attempts to negotiate a peaceful resolution, according to The Independent.
No injuries have been reported.
These people have a wedding story!
This sounds like a mental health incident. I sincerely hope this young man gets the help he needs and thankfully no one was injured. I did find it interesting that seeing this post initially on the Independent’s instagram page, there were a lot of people bashing the Indy for posting the story. All those comments were from students at UMass which led me to believe they are friends/classmates of this young man. Seems to be confirming a mental health crisis, although you cannot bash a news outlet for posting about a 24 hour standoff in a very public place.
That is one ugly building for the area.
24 hours to remove a guy with a sword? I could do it in an hour. Hire me next time.