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SANTA BARBARA, CA - 12/13/2006 - 12/13/06. Yesterday at 3:30 p.m., an officer responded to the Quality Inn at 3055 State Street on a call of a disturbance. Officers contacted a 15-year-old girl who said the woman she had argued with had already left.  The girl gave a false name, false age, and a false reason for being in Santa Barbara.  The officer sensed there was more to the story and persisted with questioning.  In time, the girl explained that she was working as a prostitute under the direct control of two pimps: a man and a woman.  The girl had been a runaway from her home in Orange County for one month.  While living on the streets, she was approached by a pimp, who promised her money, nice clothing, and the necessities of life in exchange for working for him and his female ‘business manager.’  Out of desperation, the girl agreed.  She described working as a prostitute in Las Vegas and Ventura.  She has been working out of Santa Barbara hotel rooms for two days.  Her pimps threatened “to beat her” if she did not make money for them.  They advertised by various means including the Internet.  Detectives found corroborating evidence of the prostitution operation inside the motel room.  They seized a laptop computer and material that identified the two pimps.  Meanwhile, at 8:00 p.m., an officer spotted the female suspect driving downtown in a champagne colored 1997 Cadillac with Nevada plates.  At first the driver refused to yield; speeding up Chapala Street and running several red lights.  The driver stopped at 1600 Chapala Street, and was arrested without further incident.  Officers arrested Tanya Leann Johnson, age 26 with a listed address in Las Vegas, Nevada.  She was charged with pimping and pandering a minor, evading arrest amounting to a felony, and being an unlicensed driver.  Her bail is set at $250,000.  The other suspect has been identified, but is not in custody.  He is believed to be from the Bakersfield area.  The 15-year-old girl was taken into protective custody.

SANTA BARBARA, CA - 12/14/2006 - On 12/12/06 at 4:45 p.m., detectives arrested Brandon Michael Gee, age 20 for the near-fatal stabbing of a 26-year-old man at a residence in the 1100 block of Walnut Ave.  Two of Gee’s friends, Christopher McQueen, age 25 and Heidi Lockhart, age 20 were arrested for being criminal accessories to the same crime: assault with a deadly weapon.  The investigation
unfolds as follows: On 12/10/06 at 2:00 a.m., police responded to a Walnut Avenue residence on a call of a stabbing that just occurred.  Police found McQueen cradling the victim, who was unconscious from blood loss. No one else was present.  McQueen told police the following story: The victim had invited two unidentified women to the residence, who arrived in the company of two men. After a brief argument, one unidentified man stabbed the victim in the chest. The women and men left.  McQueen said the women and men were complete strangers. Detectives acted on this misinformation, but were unable to develop leads on the identity of the mystery men and women.

Meanwhile, from various sources, information trickled in that countered McQueen’s statement.  Further investigation helped detectives determine what really happened: The stabbing suspect (Gee) and Lockhart and boyfriend and girlfriend.  They both live with McQueen in the Walnut Avenue residence. McQueen and the victim are friends.  The night of the stabbing, the victim and McQueen were drinking at a downtown nightclub.  They returned to McQueen’s residence, where Gee and two other men were hanging out.  There was a brief argument and physical altercation between Gee and the victim.  Gee stabbed the victim once in the chest with a folding pocketknife. The victim was unarmed. The knife wound nicked the victim’s heart.  The victim underwent emergency heart surgery at Cottage Hospital.  He has been released and is expected to make a full recovery.

Detectives believe McQueen intentionally misdirected police to throw suspicion away from Gee.  Once more facts were known, detectives contacted Lockhart.  She said Gee was no longer in Santa Barbara; he had returned to his native Fresno.  She was warned not to assist or harbor Gee.  Despite the warning, detectives discovered that Lockhart has been letting Gee use her car and had rented a room
at the Town and County Hotel, 2800 State St.  On 12/12/06 at 4:25 p.m., police found Gee and Lockhart together in the hotel room and arrested them both.  Gee has been charged with assault with a deadly weapon, with an allegation that he inflicted great bodily injury.  McQueen and Lockhart have been charged with being criminal accessories to the crime.  The bail for Gee is $30,000; for McQueen and Lockhart, $20,000.