Police Arrest 4 Oxnard Men in Santa Barbara Slaying

A weekend fight that began in a Santa Barbara bar left one man dead and four Oxnard men in jail on suspicion of committing a homicide.

Michael Rafael Torres, 23, of Santa Barbara was pronounced dead on arrival at Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara after police found the wounded man on the pavement of a parking garage early Sunday morning. Another man, James Lee Miranda, 21, of Santa Ynez, underwent surgery Sunday morning at St. Francis Medical Center in Santa Barbara and was listed in satisfactory condition Monday evening.

Both men had been involved in a fight that started shortly after midnight at the Hurricane, a bar near the intersection of State and Ortega streets, police said. The fight pitted a group of Santa Barbara men in their 20s against another group from Oxnard, said Santa Barbara Police Sgt. Richard Green.

Club employees broke up the initial fight and threw out both groups, escorting the Oxnard men out the front door and the Santa Barbara group out the back.

The two groups, however, quickly found each other in a nearby parking structure. One Santa Barbara police officer near the scene heard yelling and called the police dispatcher. Moments later, he heard about six shots in rapid succession, Green said.

The officer ran to the scene and saw about 20 people scattering, with Torres and Miranda lying wounded on the ground.

Eferen Cruz, 22, of Oxnard was arrested on another floor of the parking garage. Police said they found a revolver on the ground near where he was standing.

Oxnard police reviewed a security camera tape of the fight and recognized some of the men involved. Santa Barbara police then visited the Oxnard homes of several possible suspects. None were home at the time, Green said, but police interviewed family members.

On Monday, three of the men who officers had tried to contact turned themselves in to Oxnard police. Gerardo Mora Reyes, 23; Gerardo Tellez Plencia, 19; and Leo Gonzales, 23, were in custody Monday evening. All four men arrested are also suspected of participating in a criminal street gang, Green said.