SB man charged after child’s death

Elvis Alberto Lopez, 24, is charged with murder of 3-year-old girl

By NEIL HARTSTEIN NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER

A Santa Barbara man has been charged with murder for allegedly killing his girlfriend’s 3-year-old daughter, Santa Barbara County District Attorney John Savrnoch announced Wednesday.

Elvis Alberto Lopez, 24, was charged in a six-count felony complaint with the murder of 3year-old “Jane Doe” on Feb. 4, with assault on a child causing death for the Feb. 4 incident, and with child abuse for an incident that occurred on Feb. 2, prosecutors said.

“Counts 4 through 6, the defendant is charged with three separate incidents of child abuse that allegedly occurred between Sept. 1, 2022 and Feb. 1, 2023,” prosecutors said.

Mr. Lopez is also charged with having been previously convicted of a serious and violent felony, or “strike” offense. If convicted, he would receive a second strike, according to the complaint filed against him.

He was arraigned Wednesday in front of Judge Raimondo Montes de Oca. The defendant entered pleas of not guilty and denied all special allegations. Bail was set at $4 million. The case is scheduled for preliminary hearing setting on March 2 and

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Michelle Carlen’s petition is at www.change.org/p/ stop-using-carpinteria-beach -at-ash-ave-as-a-dumpingground-from-debris-basins? utm_source=share petition &utm_medium=custom_ url&recruited_by_ id=38f7df90-a986-11e7bac0-773d97e090eb.

By KATHERINE ZEHNDER

WRITER

NEWS-PRESS STAFF

A petition to stop the debris dumping on the Ash Avenue beach has been started by Michelle Carlen, a Carpinteria resident and business owner.

Ms. Carlen’s petition at www. change.org currently has more than 450 signatures to halt the dumping at Carpinteria City Beach off Ash Avenue. It is known as one of the city’s most popular tourist spots.

“The county is pulling emergency permits to dump debris in Carpinteria and Goleta beaches,” Ms. Carlen told the News-Press.

“We had the Thomas Fire in December 2017 — trees, shrubs and everything burned which contributed to the 1/9 debris flow in January 2018,” Ms. Carlen said. “This was the first time an emergency permit was pulled to dump at Carpinteria beach. Because it was an emergency, it was a one-time thing.

“On Jan, 9, 2023, our Ash

Avenue beach was dictated by the County of Santa Barbara as being a location to dump debris and mud from the flood basins,” Ms. Carlen said.

“The county has had five years to figure out how to dump debris basins properly. Now they are in a panic trying to clear the debris,” Ms. Carlen said. “The county knew there was a problem; if you know there is a problem, you need to mitigate the risk.

“There are different entities involved in the dumping including: the California Coastal

Commission, the county of Santa Barbara and the Army Corp of Engineers at the L.A. district office,” said Ms. Carlen. “I have contacted the district office of EPA out of San Francisco, I have called the Coastal Commission, appeared at city of Carpinteria council meetings, called county Supervisor Das Williams’ office, called NOAA, Heal the Ocean, Central Coast Water Board and many other agencies,” said Ms. Carlen.

She also indicated that she is still waiting for a call back from Supervisor Williams.

“As a Carpinterian who takes my toddlers to swim off Ash beach, I care deeply about protecting it.” Mr. Williams, the 1st District supervisor and the new chair of the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors, told the News-Press in an email.

“After the historic January storm, the Santa Monica Debris Basin above Carpinteria was 80% full, and clearing the basin is a vital emergency service that will be assigned to Judge Pauline Maxwell. Santa Barbara police dispatch received a call reporting a medical emergency concerning the child at 1:33 p.m. on Feb. 4. The initial report was that a 3year-old girl had fallen out of bed injuring herself. email: nhartsteinnewspress@ gmail.com

Santa Barbara City Fire and American Medical Response personnel were attending to the child, performing CPR when the police arrived. The child was transported to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, where she was pronounced deceased. Santa Barbara police detectives with the assistance of the Santa Barbara County Coroner’s office investigated the death. Based on the evidence gathered, the case was categorized as a homicide. Based upon the police investigation, the suspect was identified as Mr. Lopez, the boyfriend of the victim’s mother.

On Saturday, an arrest warrant was authored and signed by a judge for the arrest of Mr. Lopez for Penal Code 187, Murder. He was later contacted at his family’s residence by Santa Barbara Police Department detectives and taken into custody without incident.

Standing up against bigotry

Local world champion surfer talks about anti-Semitism in ‘Waves Apart’

By DAVE MASON NEWS-PRESS MANAGING EDITOR

You can’t let bigotry win.

Shaun Tomson, who’s Jewish, knew that. He was 17 when he faced a bully who cracked antiSemitic remarks to intimidate him to give up his seat.

Mr. Tomson was sitting on the coveted seat closest to the entrance to a canvas-covered truck carrying him and his fellow South African soldiers.

“I was faced with, ‘Do I give up my seat, or do I say something?’” said Mr. Tomson, a South African native who went on to become a world champion surfer.

In a split-second decision, Mr. Tomson stood up — not to give up his seat, but to make it clear that he wasn’t going to budge an inch.

“The worst thing you can do is to do nothing,” Mr. Tomson told the News-Press.

Mr. Tomson, a longtime Santa Barbara resident, tells the entire story of how he dealt with the antiSemitic bully — it won’t be spoiled here — in “Waves Apart.”

Directed by Jewish surfer Josh Greene, the documentary about surfers and the anti-Semitism they’ve faced screens at 7:40 p.m. today at Fiesta 5, 618 State St., as part of the Santa Barbara

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For today’s schedule at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, see sbiff.org.

COURTESY PHOTOS

Shaun Tomson, a world champion surfer and Santa Barbara resident, talks about the importance of standing up to anti-Semitism in “Waves Apart,” a documentary screening today at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

International Film Festival.

Mr. Greene tells the story of how he encountered anti-Semitism during his youth in San Clemente, but found an escape from it in surfing. But later, anti-Semitism found a home in surfing, and Mr. Greene saw swastikas carved into surfboards at a surf museum.

Mr. Tomson told the News-Press he has never encountered antiSemitism from fellow surfers. He

Please see SURFER on A4