[UPDATE: April 21, 6:00 p.m.] Santa Barbara Police Department arrested the person suspected to have tasered the 72-year-old woman on Monday evening. After following up on various tips provided by community members regarding the elder abuse incident, police spokesperson Sgt. Ethan Ragsdale said, officers were able to identify and locate 41-year-old Santa Barbara resident Violetta Hatipoglu and make an arrest without incident.
Ragsdale said that the investigation found that in the incident, Hatipoglu and the victim were in a verbal argument, which led to “Hatipoglu using a flashlight-taser on the victim several times.”
The small pink plastic flashlight-taser was recovered during the arrest, and Hatipoglu was taken to the Santa Barbara County Jail and booked on felony charges for elder abuse and assault with a taser. Her bail was set at $20,000.