Naked aggression lands burglar in hoosegow

 

SANTA BARBARA — A violent crime spree May 17 ended with no serious physical injuries to the victims and provided quite a story to tell.

After being subdued by a taser shot to the stomach at the scene, Phillip Kenneth Matovich, 26, was booked for attempted murder, two counts of burglary, kidnapping, hostage-taking, false imprisonment, terrorist threats and brandishing a knife.

 

Officers responded to a hot prowl burglary call to a home on the 300 block of Ladera Street at 6:30 a.m., where two parents and their two children ages 7 and 9 were sleeping. The parents were awakened by Matovich who began to shout incoherently at them while they were in bed. Matovich then took off all of his clothing and told them he was going to kill them and their children. He then ran into the kitchen and tried to pull a knife from the knife block when the victims struggled with him to prevent him from obtaining a knife. Matovich then ran out of the apartment, naked. The victims made the call to the police. Officers arrived and began to cordon off the block, hearing from other witnesses in the area that a naked man had been seen jumping fences.

Matovich reportedly had gone into a yard on the same block of Ladera Street and removed a screen to the front window, which he entered. He then took a large steak knife from the kitchen and surprised the 27-year-old female and 30-year-old male victims, who were horrified to wake up to a naked man holding a large knife in their bedroom.

 

Matovich told the victims that the police were looking for him, and that he was going to hold them hostage and kill them if they did not cooperate. He reportedly told the male victim that if the police came to their door, the male should not alert the police to his presence, or he would stab and kill the female victim. The male victim was able to talk Matovich into putting the knife on the ground.

An officer searching a yard on the 300 block of Ladera noticed that the front window screen of the residence was removed and lying on the ground, and went to the front door where he met the male victim, who appeared to be very frightened and made gestures that there was something wrong inside the house. The officer inquired if Matovich was inside, and the victim whispered that Matovich was holding his girlfriend hostage in the bedroom.

 

When the officer entered the house and ran to the rear bedroom, he saw Matovich holding the female victim with his arm around her neck, and Matovich began to tighten his hold.

When the officer determined that Matovich’s hands were free of any weapons, he drew his taser and aimed it at Matovich’s exposed abdomen and Matovich was taken into custody and booked.

An investigation revealed that Matovich had used the drugs ecstasy and cocaine and consumed alcohol throughout the night before committing his crime spree.