Shomik Mukherjee
News Editor
Two Santa Barbara City College students were arrested Monday on suspicion of an attempted burglary at the Tropicana Gardens apartments, authorities confirmed.
Anthony McAlister, 20, was seen entering through the window of one of the Tropicana Gardens apartments at around 1:00 a.m., the University of California, Santa Barbara Police Department (UCPD) reported in an email alert. Other residents confronted McAlister, who drew an “unknown object” from his pocket and challenged the confronters to a fight — before fleeing the scene altogether, the alert said.
“McAlister was known by residents as possibly being involved with previous thefts at the apartment complex,” the alert said.
UCPD officers, along with police from the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Office and California Highway Patrol, located McAlister later in the day at a townhouse on Poppyfield Place in Goleta. The residence is located northeast of the San Joaquin Apartments.
Authorities waited until McAlister exited the residence at 4:15 p.m., at which point they took him into custody. Police also arrested another SBCC student, Cameron Lawson, 19, who was with McAlister. Both students are first year students at the college, and until recently, McAlister was a member of the SBCC Vaqueros football team. He left the team a few weeks before the incident, Noozhawk reported.
Both were charged with attempted burglary and conspiracy, and McAlister was additionally charged with making criminal threats against the Tropicana residents. Both were arrested without a struggle, UCPD Sgt. Rob Romero told The Bottom Line.
McAlister is wanted on an active felony warrant in his home state of Wisconsin, Romero said.
The initial UCSB timely alert spelled McAlister’s name as “McAllister,” with two L’s, instead of one. Romero confirmed that the alert was incorrect.