A grueling three-month rape trial ended Friday with the offender briefly escaping custody after the jury announced his guilt.
Arian Eteghaei, a 23-year-old former UCSB student who now faces decades in prison, managed to break free from sheriff’s bailiffs as they were escorting him across Figueroa Street between the two downtown Santa Barbara courthouses. Eteghaei was shackled at the hands but not the feet.
Wearing a suit and shouting profanities, Eteghaei ran one block west to State Street before he was tackled by bailiffs and held down by bystanders. Footage of his apprehension was captured by Noozhawk…