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Talk about a slippery suspect.
A 31-year-old man accused of battery led Santa Barbara police on a bizarre four-hour ordeal Tuesday after fleeing into the Pacific and refusing to leave a drainage culvert as rescue crews waited on shore.
Leonardo Silvestre Castro allegedly took the plunge when officers tried to contact him following a reported battery near Garden Street and East Cabrillo Boulevard around 7:30 a.m., according to Santa Barbara police Lt. Ethan Ragsdale.
“While attempting to contact the subject, he fled into the ocean, entered a drainage culvert, and refused to surrender or comply with officers’ commands,” Ragsdale told Noozhawk.
Castro reportedly held onto a bolt inside the concrete structure, according to emergency radio traffic, thwarting efforts to get him out.
The hideout extended about 50 feet into the ocean, Battalion Chief Jon Turner said.
Firefighters were dispatched around 7:41 a.m., with three engines, a ladder truck and search-and-rescue swimmers joining the response.
Harbor Patrol, police negotiators and a mental health assessment team also arrived.
A rescue attempt using buoys around 8:40 a.m. failed, with Castro staying put.
“We have rescue swimmers standing by in case they’re needed for the subject or PD,” Turner told the Santa Barbara outlet.
Officers finally pulled Castro from the water shortly before noon.
He was taken to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital and then booked into Santa Barbara County Jail.
He faces suspicion of several misdemeanors and a felony.
