Traffic Stop Results in Interrupted Kidnapping 

November 14, 2024 – Montecito, CA – Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office officials report that Deputies conducting a pro-active traffic enforcement stop discovered a kidnapping in progress inside the vehicle. On Tuesday, November 12, 2024, at approximately 10:43 p.m., a deputy on patrol in the area of southbound Highway 101 near Olive Mill conducted a traffic enforcement stop on an unsafe RV that was being driven with the pop-out sections extended. As the deputy approached the RV, he observed an ongoing domestic dispute inside the vehicle.

Through the on-scene investigation, deputies learned that the passenger, 34-year-old Matthew Parsadayan from Newport Beach, forced the adult female victim to drive the RV towards Orange County. Along a route from highway 154 to the location of the traffic stop, Parsadayan threatened the victim with two knives, put his arms around her neck, and fired a handgun out of the window. The victim, in fear for her life and for her infant who was also in the vehicle, was attempting to comply with Parsadayan’s commands when the RV was stopped by the deputy. During a search of the RV, a Glock pistol was found along with a spent 9mm casing.

Parsadayan was arrested for kidnapping (felony), assault with a deadly weapon other than a firearm (felony), discharge of a firearm with gross negligence (felony), child cruelty (felony), kidnapping a child (felony). Parsadayan is being held at the Main Jail with $1,000,000 bail.

Source: Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office