preteen

Girl To Appear In Court

By NEIL HARTSTEIN NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER

A 5-foot-10-inch-tall Santa Barbara man who weighs 215 pounds will appear in court next month on a felony charge that he tried to abduct a 12-year-old girl in Carpinteria last November.

Elias Maldonado, 51, appeared in court Wednesday for a conference to set a date for his preliminary hearing but the case was continued to March 15, Deputy District Attorney Hannah Meyer told the News-Press.

Sheriff’s deputies announced Nov. 10 that they had arrested Mr. Maldonado on suspicion of attempted kidnapping for an incident that occurred two days earlier.

Community Resource Deputy Bryan Dickey was notified Nov. 9 by Carpinteria Middle School staff of a kidnapping incident that had occurred at approximately 4 p.m. Nov. 8 in the 5500 block of Carpinteria Avenue near the entrance to the bicycle path.

Deputy Dickey spoke with the female juvenile reporting party who provided a thorough account of the incident and a suspect description, sheriff’s officials said.

He and patrol deputies conducted a follow-up investigation, identified the suspect as Mr. Maldonado and tracked him to a motel in the 5500 block of Carpinteria Avenue. Deputies also learned that he had an outstanding warrant for his arrest.

At approximately 9:50 a.m. on Nov. 9, Deputy Dickey along with patrol deputies and a Sheriff’s K9 unit contacted Mr. Maldonado

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