Police arrest naked man following car chase
A nude man suspected of committing lewd acts in public led police on a high-speed chase through a Santa Barbara neighborhood and rammed a squad car yesterday afternoon before officers took him into custody.
Authorities said Michael Jon Helman, 47, was booked on a variety of charges, including felony evading, felony resisting arrest and several counts of assault with a deadly weapon.
Dispatchers began receiving calls of a naked man driving in the San Roque area, stopping occasionally and committing lewd acts early yesterday afternoon. At 1:14 p.m., one witness reported seeing the suspect near Foothill Road and Alamar Avenue.
“The witness sees this guy basically standing in the roadway naked,” Sgt. Mike McGrew said.
The witness stopped and told the man — who was nude other than a red hat — that he was calling 911. The suspect reportedly fled in a green 1995 Geo. As the witness followed, the suspect began speeding through red lights and stop signs, authorities said.
Officers searched the area and visited the vehicle’s registered address, but failed to turn up the suspect. At 3 p.m., however, McGrew said sheriff’s dispatchers began receiving calls of a nude man committing lewd acts in the San Roque neighborhood.
“He was right in front of a preschool,” McGrew said.
When witnesses confronted the suspect, he fled in his vehicle again, reportedly driving recklessly along neighborhood streets. An officer eventually located the man driving along La Cumbre Road.
“The officer goes to stop him and the chase is on,” McGrew said.
As the officer flipped on the emergency lights and siren, the suspect allegedly accelerated to a high rate of speed and began weaving through traffic. The officer followed the suspect onto La Cumbre Hills Lane before authorities decided to call off the pursuit for safety reasons.
However, the suspect had pulled onto a dead-end street and his only escape route was blocked by a police vehicle, McGrew said.
“The suspect looks straight at the officer and then guns the car and smashes right into the front of the police car,” he said.
The suspect backed up and hit a parked car before ramming the squad car again, authorities said. At that point, another officer arrived on scene and exited his vehicle.
“[The suspect] guns it again and tries to run the officer over,” McGrew said, adding that the officer was able to get out of the way.
After crashing into a fence, the suspect allegedly attempted to hit the officer again, McGrew said. Officers managed to shoot a Taser through the driver-side window and stopped the suspect, whose vehicle came to a stop in a circular planter in the center of the cul-de-sac.
The suspect, still nude, was pulled from the vehicle after an officer broke the passenger-side window — sustaining minor injuries in the process. Authorities said they discovered crack cocaine and a crack pipe, as well as pornography, in the suspect’s possession.
Helman was treated for minor injuries at Cottage Hospital before being booked into county jail without bail on charges of felony evading, assault with a deadly weapon, felony resisting arrest, possession of cocaine and parole violations. He faces possible charges of indecent exposure as well.
Comment on this article
: 2/2/2010
Job well done SBPD, way to show restraint and not shoot the crackhead with their guns instead. Once a suspect starts ramming with their car deadly force is legal..
Another white criminal... : 2/2/2010
You point at every single "immigrant" who commits a crime when you have a chance racists, WE WILL DO THE SAME! You stop, WE WILL stop! The bash continues...
Latino Activist
White Criminals : 2/2/2010
I agree with Latino Activist completely. There are many racist individuals that post here and their rhetoric is inflamatory to say the least. But I must say that they are the minority and there angry words only reflect a lack of education or intelligent thought regarding race relations. They are an embarrassment for the rest of us as are crackhead criminals of every race. Much or their hate talk is fueled by highly visible gang activity. Let's be honest, most, if not all, of the gang activity here in Santa Barbara is generated by Mexican/Hispanic criminals and Hispanic youth who are lured into this activity. In Orange County, much of the gang related activity comes from Asian gangs so down there you find racist rhetoric directed towards Asian people. If you are really a Latino Activist then I hope that you are putting some of your energies towards steering young Latino's away from tagging, property destruction and other criminal activities associated with gangs. When someone I know makes a racist or racially insensitive remark I call them on it. I tell them that it makes them sound ignorant and uneducated. I hope you do the same with your Latino friends. Racism is wrong wherever it comes from so we have to work together to reduce and eliminate stereotypes and the criminal behavior that feeds this ignorance.
M.Miller
M Miller : 2/2/2010
You're the man, great post.
baers
: 2/2/2010
I was in the E.R. when they brought him in. Sorry excuse for a human being
: 2/2/2010
Why is this nut case out on parole? As much as I hate drugs, why are we locking up pot smokers and letting out sexual predators? If the courts can't handle justice then maybe it's time for them to be removed from the posts and to allow us the citizens to handle our justice system. Nothing makes sense anymore.. It's all about money...
Who mentioned race here? : 2/2/2010
Why, I believe that would be only... YOU, Latino Activist! What does that tell us?
ER sighting : 2/2/2010
I hope no one was dying while your rubbernecking the crazies...too bad the police didn't have the camera on the taser!
Could have been an On Patrol classic. With the way this city runs mental health and the way the rich blame that dysfunctionality on the homeless...I'm sure more and more of this is bound to happen. Couldn't have happen to a nicer city too.
Boycott Boy
Another White Criminal : 2/2/2010
The last time "Another White Criminal" posted the same post about 2-3 weeks ago. The criminals were Latino! He was like "Juan Sanchez - another white criminal" - what an idiot! I mean at least make sure to proofread! And for your information Jon Michael Helman is actually a Martian- so please be kind to this alien that went crazy- its crazy what chemical imbalances do to people of all races even from other planets. I'm glad he didn't hurt anyone and people like him sometimes kill themselves.
Luke Skywalker
We are from Mars. We will take over your planet. : 2/2/2010
America Riveria : 2/2/2010
LOL ,,, All I have to think about this is the guy, was he is not in Europe, being nude was the firtst red flag!
sbnative
Laugh at self : 2/2/2010
I should probably re-edit text before hitting send.
sbnative
Influx of cocaine : 2/2/2010
Several of my neighbors are acting up because of a recent influx of cocaine in SB. Does anybody know how so much of this drug got dumped and who's respondsible?
Santa Cocaine Native
Officer Siwicki where have you been? : 2/2/2010
nude man - lewd acts - preschool- can't they just shoot him and save the taxpayer the expense before he physically harms someone?
Harry Callahan
Yep.... : 2/3/2010
Another Blurb for all the tourists....
Welcome to Santa Barbara
Gary Lane
suspect's criminal history : 2/3/2010
Here is some of this guy's criminal history...
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2007/nov/17/remorse-expressed-over-threats-to-prosecutor/?print=1
Throw the book at him : 2/3/2010
"faces possible charges of indecent exposure as well.".... Gee I dunno, do ya' think??? Maybe he was just excercising his freedom of speech? Thank you Police for getting yet another miscreant out of circulation! Please keep up the good work!
Neighborhood Watcher
Mentally Ill : 2/4/2010
No one runs around naked because they want to- until you have seen normal people lose their minds you'll never understand. If he was on drugs- I don't have pity- but its more likely that he was off his meds.
Mesa Dan
Mc Grew : 2/5/2010
This man mollested his daughters 10 years ago....the city of Santa Barbara, detective McGrew said I made it up...Now do you believe me?.....Better yet, now do you believe the victim?......10 years ago you had the chance to prosecuit...
the x
Props to the cops. : 2/7/2010
Dude is very lucky the cops didn't shoot him. It's a testament to the skill, patience and respect for life of SB cops that they managed to handle this without deadly force even when dude threatened their lives, and I hand it to them. Sounds like dude has unmedicated mental illness.
Echoing the other poster, what's up with crack in this town? I thought the cops drove out much of the crack trade years ago with the crackdowns on and around Haley.
treedom
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