On Tuesday afternoon, a fight broke out in the middle of State Street before moving to the sidewalk in front of Starbucks coffeehouse on the 800 block of State Street, resulting in one man being stabbed and the other fleeing the scene on his bicycle. Two Downtown Ambassadors, Jose Navarro and Romeo Lopez, saw the fight occurring and rushed over to help the victim of the stabbing.
“He was bleeding pretty badly. I grabbed the gloves from my partner’s backpack and applied pressure to stop him from bleeding out,” said Navarro, who police credited with saving the victim’s life.
The incident occurred around 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon, according to the Santa Barbara Police Department, and ended with the assailant, who is currently at large, fleeing northbound up State Street on his bicycle. SBPD said that there is no current threat to the general public and that the incident did not appear to be gang related. The victim was transported to Cottage Hospital with serious injuries.