Local Man Charged with Slew of Felony Charges after a Week-Long Crime Spree

An Oxnard woman escaped a dangerous kidnapping spanning two counties after a 19-year-old man from Santa Ynez carjacked, robbed and raped her at gunpoint, May 5. “I heard that the victim is doing well and is with family,” said Lt. Paul McCaffrey of the Santa Barbara Police Department. “She is getting support to help her with this difficult situation.”

Jose Morales Leon was arrested and booked for armed robbery, armed carjacking, kidnapping and sexual assault, after leading police on a high-speed chase that ended near Lompoc when he lost control of the stolen 2003 blue Toyota Matrix.

“We don’t see crimes like this often, especially from 19-year-olds,” McCaffrey said. “[It’s unknown] what prompted him to get involved into this a deeply as he did.”

Police said Leon’s crime spree began in Salt Lake City, Utah, where he was visiting relatives. Leon allegedly picked up his former 17-year-old girlfriend and their infant child in a car he borrowed from a relative. Under the pretense of going dancing, he then kidnapped her and drove nonstop to a Santa Ynez ranch where he had previously resided.

Days before the incident Leon showed up with the girl on the ranch where he used to live and asked the owners for a job, McCaffrey said. Though they could not provide employment, they did allow him and his ex-girlfriend to live temporarily in a trailer on the ranch. The girl and her child were later placed in temporary custody of child welfare and arrangements were made for her to return to Salt Lake City.

“When we contacted the girl, she told us she didn’t want to come out to California,” McCaffrey said. “But she didn’t call the cops.”

On May 5, after dropping his ex-girlfriend off in Santa Ynez, Leon then drove to Oxnard to search for a job. When his car broke down at the Carl’s Jr. on Oxnard Boulevard, Leon then allegedly high jacked a Toyota Matrix from a 25-year-old woman at gunpoint. But, according to police, the assault didn’t stop there. Leon then allegedly drove to Santa Barbara where he forced her to withdraw an unknown sum of money from an ATM on the west side of State Street in the downtown area. Then he drove to a secluded area on Miramonte Drive and sexually assaulted her.

“He could have just taken the car and left her behind,” McCaffrey said. “Things probably could have been worked out, but he made some choices that have very negative consequences.”

Police say the woman escaped after persuading Leon to allow her to exit the vehicle. When Leon was distracted from a car pulling into a driveway, the victim reportedly began shouting for help. With the help of an undisclosed person, the victim was able to flag down a passing police officer in downtown Santa Barbara to report what had happened.

“At that point, we still did not know the identity of the suspect,” McCaffrey said. It wasn’t until about 9 p.m. when the police made contact with the victim. But she remembered that the car Leon was driving had Utah plates, so the Santa Barbara Police Department called the Oxnard Police Department and it located Leon’s inoperable vehicle. The car’s registration was traced back to its owner, a relative of the suspect, who gave Leon’s name to the police.

After the victim escaped, Leon fled the scene in the stolen Toyota. Then he returned to the trailer where he had left his ex-girlfriend and their infant. Once in Santa Ynez, Leon unloaded the 25-year-old victim’s belongings from the stolen vehicle and was later spotted driving in Buellton. When approached by a Buellton police officer, Leon drove away, leading police on a high-speed chase reaching up to 100 mph. The pursuit ended on Highway 246 by Union Sugar Avenue after Leon lost control and flipped the vehicle. Along the way, Leon also picked up a hitchhiker who was in the vehicle with him during the chase and at the time of the arrest.

“After the car caught fire and slid, both Leon and the hitchhiker crawled out of the car. They weren’t hurt,” McCaffrey said.

Leon was arrested and transported to Santa Barbara County Jail on a $1 million bail. The hitchhiker was briefly detained, but was later released. Leon’s Wednesday arraignment was scheduled to continue on Friday in Department 8 of the Santa Barbara Court House.