Full Notification

The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office is releasing preliminary numbers associated with Deltopia, an unsanctioned Spring Break event in Isla Vista held on April 5, 2014. This year’s Deltopia event deteriorated into a major incident involving civil unrest. The crowd in 2013 was estimated to be 15,000 to 18,000 people and this year was estimated at 20,000 to 25,000 people. 130 Arrests (not including 36 arrests from Friday night, April 4) 190 Citations (not including 88 citations from Friday night, April 4) 50 Medical Transports 520 Law Enforcement Calls for Service Of the 130 people arrested, at least 17 were related to the civil disturbance. 17-year-old Desmond Louis Edwards from the Los Angeles area was arrested for hitting a UCSB Police officer in the head with a backpack containing glass liquor bottles causing a significant head injury. The Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office is trying Edwards as an adult on charges of assaulting and resisting a police officer and numerous additional charges. The others who were arrested during the civil disturbance were booked on charges of participating in an unlawful assembly and refusing to disperse, both misdemeanors. Of the 62 people either arrested or cited who claimed a school affiliation, 16 said they were from UCSB, 10 from Santa Barbara City College and 36 said they attended school outside of Santa Barbara County. We are still gathering information on where those arrested and cited were from. Of the arrests, 64 were for drunk in public and of the citations, 100 were for minor in possession and 68 for open container. Eleven citations were issued for violations of the County Festival Ordinance, which prohibited loud music that would attract a crowd. Two citations were issued for overcrowded balconies. (In 2013, an overcrowded balcony collapsed and several people were seriously injured.) A total of 50 people were transported to area hospitals during the Deltopia event. 26 of those sustained injuries following the eruption of civil unrest. Four law enforcement personnel were also transported to area hospitals, two with head injuries and two with hand injuries, due to objects that were thrown at them. Approximately 130 law enforcement personnel were assigned to the Deltopia event. When the riot broke out, mutual aid was called in from Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties, bringing the estimated total number of combined law enforcement personnel presence, at the time of the disturbance, to more than 190. The Sheriff’s Office is conducting an investigation into the circumstances of the riot and is seeking to identity individuals who were actively involved. They are reviewing videos from the riot, including footage that was stored on cameras placed along Del Playa Drive. The Sheriff’s Office is asking anyone who has video of the incident to e-mail it to [email protected] or call the Sheriff’s Special Investigations Division at 805-681-4175.