Santa Barbara County Sheriff's deputies arrested a Santa Barbara man for an attempted kidnapping that occurred earlier in the week.
Deputies say on Tuesday, Community Resource Deputy Bryan Dickey was notified by Carpinteria Middle School staff of a kidnapping that had occurred at approximately 4:00 p.m. on the day before.
School staff told the deputy it happened on the 5500-block of Carpinteria Avenue near the entrance to the bicycle path and provided him with a thorough account of the incident and a suspect description.
SRD Dickey and patrol deputies conducted a follow-up investigation, identifying the suspect as 51-year-old Elias Maldonado from Santa Barbara and tracking him to a motel on the 5500-block of Carpinteria Avenue. Deputies also learned that Maldonado had an outstanding warrant for his arrest.
On Thursday, at approximately 9:50 a.m., SRD Dickey along with patrol deputies and a Sheriff's K-9 unit contacted Maldonado at the Motel where he was taken into custody after attempting to flee.
Deputies say Maldonado was been booked at the Main Jail for attempted kidnapping of a child under the age of 14, obstructing a peace officer, as well as his outstanding warrant for domestic violence, and false imprisonment.
He is being held on $150,000 bail.
