A tense, hours-long standoff involving a man wanted for carjacking and a half dozen other charges ended peacefully in a Central Coast neighborhood.
Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s deputies learned Victor Manuel Ayala Sanchez was at a home in Santa Maria. When they arrived around 11:30 Wednesday morning, they discovered several other people in the house, including a child. Deputies were able to evacuate the people in the home safely.
Negotiators tried to get the 30-year-old man to surrender. After three hours of efforts to get him to give up, deputies entered the house.
They found Sanchez in the attic, where he was arrested. No one was hurt.
He was booked for outstanding warrants, which included brandishing a firearm, making criminal threats, and evading police.
