Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s deputies are looking for a suspect accused of robbing the Goleta Target while claiming to be armed.
Deputies responded to the Target on Hollister Avenue at approximately 9:52 a.m. Monday after receiving a report of a robbery that had just occurred, according to the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Office.
Investigators said that the suspect tried to purchase two iPads using a stolen credit card. Allegedly, when the transaction was declined, he took the iPads by force while stating he was armed with a firearm before exiting the store.
The suspect was last seen running west through the shopping center parking lot before deputies arrived.
Authorities described the suspect as a male in his early 20s wearing a blue hooded sweatshirt with sparkles, a blue disposable face mask, blue sweatpants and athletic shoes.
The Sheriff’s Office released a surveillance image of the suspect and urged anyone who sees him not to approach him and instead call 911 immediately. The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office asks anyone with additional information about the suspect or incident to contact them.
Officials said the colors in the surveillance image may not be completely accurate in their representation of the suspect’s appearance because the image is a photo of a security camera monitor. They said the suspect’s skin tone looked darker in person than what’s shown in the image, and also that his clothing was closer to a medium blue than depicted.
