Isla Vista, Calif. –An Isla Vista man is in custody for battery related charges after he attempted to flee into the ocean to avoid arrest. On Monday, November 18, 2024, at approximately 11:08 p.m., deputies responded to the 6600-block of Sabado Tarde for a report of a subject causing a disturbance and threatening to shoot victims. Deputies located a suspect in the area matching the description of the person making threats. The suspect immediately fled from them on foot, towards the ocean. Deputies chased the suspect, later identified as 19-year-old Joshua Collard from Isla Vista, as he jumped off the bluffs onto the beach below. The suspect continued to flee but eventually became stranded by the high tide.

Santa Barbara County Fire responded and removed Collard from the cliff where he was taken into custody by awaiting deputies. Deputies learned that Collard had punched a victim in the face, vandalized a victim’s vehicle and threated to shoot victims prior to their contact with him. Collard was medically cleared and booked at the Main Jail for felony charges including criminal threats and assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury as well as misdemeanors including vandalism, fighting in public and resisting arrest. He is being held at the Main Jail with $50,000 bail.