9th Person Held in Beating Death
Santa Barbara police arrested a ninth person in connection with last month’s slaying of an 18-year-old Ventura man who was beaten to death during an altercation over a noisy party.
Thomas Barrios, 21, of Ventura was taken into custody before 9 a.m. Friday after police spotted him on Punta Gorda Street in Santa Barbara, where he had been visiting relatives.
“The arrest was completely uneventful,” said Lt. Bob Lowry of the Santa Barbara Police Department. “They saw him, asked him to turn around and put his hands behind his back and that was it.”
William Scott Zara was beaten with a bat and shovel and stabbed several times Sept. 25 outside his apartment in the 300 block of East Warner Street in Ventura. The assailants believed Zara had called police to complain about noise at a party across the street.
Barrios is being held in lieu of $500,000 bail.
Barrios, an alleged gang member, was to be arraigned Monday, but his court date was postponed until Thursday.
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