The Weekly Dump 1.12.18

Serial Recidivist Leads SCPD On All Night Chase Through Santa Cruz

What began around midnight finally ended around 8:30 on Thursday morning, as a serial recidivist bum who is well known to SCPD and our local courts led police on an all night chase and manhunt around west Santa Cruz. It started after a report of vandalism at the Taqueria Santa Cruz on 2215 Mission Street. Witnesses described seeing a 43 year old transient disturbing customers before being asked to leave. As he was leaving, the man threw a metal chair through a glass door of the business and claimed to have a gun before being chased away. Later around 1AM, officers returned after receiving calls that the suspect had come back to the area. SCPD spotted the suspect inside a car near Pendegast and Ranking, where the suspect attempted to flee. During the pursuit, the suspect rammed an SCPD officer’s car. The suspect evaded authorities across the Westside to downtown for hours. His slow speed pursuit by SCPD went the wrong way on Pacific and Riverside avenues, 2nd Street and Mission Boulevard, and made multiple passes on West Cliff Drive. Spike strips were used in attempts to stop him. The suspect eventually drove his car into San Lorenzo Park, where he ditched the car and ran into Camp Coonerty, where he successfully evaded police.

Later that morning around  7:30AM, officers responded to the 800 block of Riverside Avenue after reports of a disturbance. When officers arrived, they found the suspect, who ran into the San Lorenzo River. The suspect stood in waist deep water as SCPD spent almost an hour negotiating his surrender. He was eventually arrested and booked into the Santa Cruz County Jail for felony eluding, felony assault on a police officer, and resisting arrest. Keeping it Weird! I can’t even fathom how many thousands of dollars were wasted on this one particular service call. And how many times has he done this? He’s a recidivist. He does it regularly.

Bank Robbery at US Bank on Soquel

Wednesday afternoon around 5PM, the US Bank on Soquel and Morrissey was robbed. The suspect was last seen running out of the bank and into the parking lot. When officers arrived the suspect had already left the scene. Witnesses told investigators that the suspect had a gun and demanded money from the tellers. During the investigation, officers gleaned information from some sort of tracking device which led them to an area near High Street, but were not able to find a suspect in that area.

Dead Body Found on Downtown Median

I got the following message sent to me on Wednesday: “I drove by a dead guy this morning around 8:10am, I guess he was an OD, he was in the median. PD was just hanging with dead body, the coroner was there getting ready to bag the guy up. I wonder how many people drove by the body before someone called it in? We’ve grown accustomed to seeing people lay/camp wherever they want. So at first glance it probably wasn’t cause for alarm.” How sad and how true. The body was apparently found in the median on Water street right next to the Post Office. I hope it wasn’t a bad meal from Food Not Bombs that did him in. I heard it was another overdose. But let’s keep giving those free needles away with taxpayer money!

City Manager Martin Bernal Continues to Disappoint Community With Failure

Santa Cruz City Manager Martín Bernal told the Santa Cruz City Council this week that the planned relocation of “Camp Coonerty” to a city-owned gravel lot at 1220 River Street might take another month. Why the delay? That’s the million dollar question isn’t it? According to Bernal, “The goal is to implement it as soon as possible and it’s no easy task”.

“as soon as possible”. What does that even mean? That doesn’t sound like a plan. That doesn’t even sound like a deadline. That’s sounds like a mush mouthed pandering promise of nothingness. They’ve gone from plans and deadlines to “as soon as possible” now. How long has rampant homelessness been a problem in Santa Cruz? I don’t know. 30 years maybe? Now there’s a sense of urgency to deal with it? Nobody wants to pay for it. It’s always about money and in this case, money and ultimate responsibility (and let’s not forget that nasty little thing called “liability”). It’s always about money. Apparently, a number of Santa Cruz County agencies and nonprofit partners are willing to provide “services” to the site, but none have stepped up to take the lead, Bernal said. Oh sure, they want to “service” the homeless because that’s what sustains their local, most likely redundant, social service non profit 501c3. The progressives need to be fed.

So the city has to take the lead? Why? Homeless social services is a COUNTY responsibility. As long as the city picks up the county’s trash, the county is going to let it.

Dozens of people have been squatting illegally in “Camp Coonerty” since October of last year (with the City Manager and Chief of Police’s illegal implied consent), even after the opening of numerous winter shelters that are often less than filled to capacity. In recent months, at least two people have died of drug overdoses inside of Camp Coonerty. Recent rain has done little to disperse the squatters. The new “Boneyard” site (can they maybe give it a name that doesn’t conjure up images of Auschwitz?) will be smaller, and supposedly include 24 hour security (who pays for that?) where participants are shuttled in (who pays for that?), have on-site health and human services (who pays for staffing that?) and likely have a limited stay. See how it’s all about the money? And the city needs to stop paying the county’s bill here.

And where’s Ryan? He’s around and still oblivious and unsympathetic to anyone that doesn’t donate money to his re-election campaign. Turning the other cheek to his namesake camp!

(photo submitted by a Dump reader)

Autopsy Confirms Santa Cruz Man’s Mom Was Murdered

The South Dakota Attorney General released autopsy evidence this past Monday that appears to indicate that a Santa Cruz, California man murdered his mother. The 58 year old woman was found dead inside her SUV after her son led South Dakota state troopers on a 120 mph chase on I-90 New Year’s Day. Her 30 year old son from Santa Cruz was originally arrested on charges of reckless driving, evading law enforcement, resisting arrest, and DUI. He will now likely be charged with homicide due to his mother’s violent death. The mother moved from Santa Cruz to Palm Springs months before her death.

“Preliminary autopsy results indicate blunt trauma injury to her head and hemorrhage anterior neck musculature,” Attorney General Marty Jackley stated from South Dakota. “This confirms this is a homicide, and will continue to be treated as such.”

Pedestrian Killed By Car at Highway 1 and River Street

Friday night around 10:30PM, SCPD responded to Highway 1 and River Street for a report of a possible collision involving a pedestrian and a car. When they arrived, they found the pedestrian unconscious lying in the roadway with significant injuries. AMR transported the 29 year old man from Santa Cruz to a local trauma center, where he later died. The preliminary investigation seems to indicate that the victim was trying to cross against a red light in the crosswalk. The driver, a 57 year old man from San Jose, was traveling northbound on Highway 1 approaching the intersection when he hit him. The driver, who remained on the scene after the accident, was not arrested or cited as the investigation is still ongoing. Northbound Highway 1 at River Street was closed fro about 4 hours as a result of the collision investigation.

Just Another Former Felon Behaving Badly Locally

Last Thursday, Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Deputies served a search warrant on a house in the 3000 block of Salisbury Drive, where Deputies found three men. In the resulting search of the property, Deputies found over 5 ounces of methamphetamine, a digital scale, a ballistic vest, a .22 caliber pistol with ammunition, and about $3000 in cash. A 35 year old Santa Cruz man was arrested for being a felon in possession of a firearm, narcotics sales, and being a felon in possession of body armor. He was booked into Santa Cruz County Jail. His bail was set at $250,000.

Just Another Felon on Probation Behaving Badly Locally

Last weekend, the SCPD Neighborhood Enforcement Team made contact with a 49 year old Santa Cruz resident who was standing next to his pickup truck in the 400 Block of Soquel Avenue. Officers knew the man from multiple prior contacts and conducted a probation search of his vehicle, where they located over $600 in cash, a digital scale, and approximately 10 grams of methamphetamine packaged for sale. The man was arrested for felony possession of methamphetamine for sale and booked into county jail. The man then posted bail for these charges and was released from custody. The Neighborhood Enforcement Team followed up with State Parole agents on New Years Day and learned that the man was also wanted by them. Last Wednesday night, Officers from the NET Team were able to track the man down on the 900 block of North Branciforte Avenue and took him into custody for the felony parole violation. I’d call that a bad way to start the new year!

Someone Really Wanted a Shower

Friday night around 10:30PM, I heard a report about a possible break in at a residence on the 300 block of Cedar Street in downtown Santa Cruz. When SCPD arrived to investigate, they found broken glass in the front door. When they checked inside, they found two people in the shower. Both were arrested in the bathroom and detained in handcuffs. No word on whether they had any clothes on or not.

Pair Arrested For Theft at Local Storage Facility

Friday afternoon, a 42 year old man and a 26 year old woman from Santa Cruz were arrested after they were both found wheeling a cart full of stolen goods around a storage facility on the 3700 block of Soquel Drive, according to a Santa Cruz Sheriff’s Office report. Both were arrested for multiple accounts of burglary. Earlier that morning, officers located a truck filled with stolen property worth in excess of  $10,000. As part of their follow-up investigation, Detectives were led to the storage facility, where they found the two suspects wheeling a cart of items they had allegedly just stolen from a storage unit. Keys to that truck full of stolen property were found in the woman’s possession, and she was placed under arrest for possession of a stolen vehicle. The male suspect was also arrested for possession of an illegal switchblade. Detectives later reviewed security footage of the suspects loading the stolen truck with stolen property on Thursday.

Breaking Into the Wrong Truck

Wednesday night around 6:30PM, a report came in about a man breaking into a truck near Soquel and San Juan Avenues, near the Santa Cruz Nissan. The witness reported seeing a man inside of his truck. SCPD arrived and arrested the suspect for theft at gunpoint. I looked the guy up. He’s been arrested 18 times locally since 2013.

Man Arrested in Child Pornography Case

Tuesday, Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s deputies arrested a man in Davenport for possession of child pornography and duplicating child pornography. He was booked into the Santa Cruz County jail with a bail amount of $25,000 dollars. Last September, Sheriff’s Detectives received information about the suspect possessing and sending child pornography over the internet. During their investigation, they were able to gather enough evidence to arrest him.

Car Rolls Over on Highway 17 and Catches Fire

Friday night around 5PM, a vehicle overturned and caught fire on Highway 17, making a mess of traffic and commuters trying to navigate their way home. The accident occurred just south of Brush Road in Los Gatos and blocked the right lane. CHP reported that there were injuries.

It’s That Time of the Year

Wednesday night around 11:30PM, I heard a report about a fire along the river levee behind Riverside. Two suspects reportedly lit a Christmas tree on fire and were wanted for arson. The Santa Cruz Fire Department was sent to the scene to put out the fire. Suspects were described as young males with hoodies.

Hugh’s News
City Council Meeting, January 9th, 2018

Happy New Year! The gallery looks pretty empty today and of course Krohn is talking more than any other council member. Pretty light agenda but of course that means nothing with him in front of a microphone. Item 20 on the agenda was the redesign of the PACT (Partnership for Accountability and Connection to Treatment) program. Several county officials even showed up! City staff presented first and then county. It’s clear to me they are working together towards a solution. It’s nice to see the county FINALLY stepping up with ideas and funding to assist with the homeless/mental health/addiction crisis that the city is experiencing. The city simply does not have the funding and/or resources that the county does.

Oral Communications: I think we should be able to give council members one night to just blurt out whatever they are thinking during oral communications. How fun would that be?

There were only five or so speakers this evening. One gentleman said that the firepits at the beach were pathetic. He compared them to the fire rings behind Chaminade. He said he realized that the fire pit issue is a state thing but that council should write them a letter. He also kept looking at himself in the monitor. Of course the withering Anti-Semite swung by to share more of his delusions with council. He wants the 2 minutes of fame but spends more time admonishing council members for not paying attention to him. And if that wasn’t enough he had to post his shitty looking sign behind the next speaker. Mayor Terazzas told him to move it. Flaccido sniveled, grabbed his shitty sign and left the meeting. I have to say our new Mayor was setting some fierce boundaries tonight. I like it. Evening session had only one item. An appeal for the placement of a cell tower on Nobel Dr. – Truth be told I wouldn’t want a cell tower near my house. Can’t say that I blame the people from the neighborhood being opposed to it. It’s 2018 though and they are popping up everywhere.

MLK 2018 March For the Dream

The NAACP Santa Cruz County Branch and the Santa Cruz Police Department will co-sponsor the first joint Santa Cruz MLK Day March, which takes place locally on Monday, January 15th, and will begin at 10:00AM at Pacific Avenue and Cathcart Street and end on Cooper Street. The theme is “March for the Dream – Honor the Past, Impact the Future.” After the march, people will convene with activities at the MAH. Event details are available online here.

City of Santa Cruz Releases November and December Crime Statistics

The city of Santa Cruz recently updated their website with the monthly crime statistics for November and December of 2017. These numbers reflect the 30 day period of November 2017 and the 31 day period of December 2017 and are for the City of Santa Cruz only. They are a synopsis of the full report, which is compiled and published by SCPD and posted on the city’s website here and here.

For November 2017

  • Homicide: 0
  • Rapes: 2
  • Robberies: 7
  • Aggravated Assaults: 18
  • Burglaries: 37
  • Larcenies: 206
  • Auto Thefts: 25
  • Arson: 4

For December 2017

  • Homicide: 0
  • Rapes: 1
  • Robberies: 7
  • Aggravated Assaults: 10
  • Burglaries: 30
  • Larcenies: 233
  • Auto Thefts: 23
  • Arson: 4

Sign Up For the Citizens’ Police Academy!

Registration is now open for SCPD’s next Citizens Police Academy. The 14 week program gives participants insight into the philosophy and policies that govern the SCPD’s service to the community. The English speaking classes will be held every Tuesday from 6 to 8 PM, from February 6th to May 9th. The Spanish speaking classes will be held every Monday from 6 to 8 PM, from February 5th to May 14th. The Citizens’ Police Academy is a free interactive class open to the community that combines classroom and lecture with hands on scenarios from officers in their fields. It gives participants a look inside the operations of SCPD. Students learn about local policing, firearms training, gang awareness, patrol functions, K-9 functions, criminal investigations, narcotics, dispatch, traffic law, and use of force. Participants must be 18 years old and must either work, live, or attend school in the city of Santa Cruz and must pass a basic background check to participate. Applications and more information can be found here

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10 Comments

  1. Ben, It’s so unbelievable it defies the imagination that Martin Bernal and the idiots in the Santa Cruz city council and the BoS and Jim Hart and Handy Andy get paid to do this.

  2. The only thing missing from this jungle is Marlin Perkins.

  3. Hey all, you should put your coffee down and get a copy of today’s Senile and read the headline story on page one. This front page story explains that Exxon has filed a 60-page Motion in a Texas Court demanding depositions under oath from Martin Bernal, Tony Condiotti, Dana McRae and CarlosPalacio in consideration of an action against the city and county of Santa Cruz for misleading investors in 2015 and 2016 bonds issued by these entities that failed to mentions a potential risks related to global warming, during the lifetime of the bonds. Texas has a unique law that allows the pre-filing of depositions before an action is filed. So Gracchus asks who’s going to pay for Tony Condiotti’s et al’s deposition time and Motion to Quash at four hundred bucks an hour? The taxpayer – thats who ?. As Gracchus has mentioned before, this money could all be better put toward housing the homeless at local hotels and motels instead of exercising the progressives left conflated delusions of massive damage from global warming. What’s strategically interesting is that Exxon is aiming to prove that the omission of global arming warning statements in the Santa Cruz action is meritless and that the county and City knew that when they issued recent bond issues which were not pointed out to investors as an investment risk. Exxon will then take these under oath depositions and come back and file motions to dismiss in the Santa Cruz action. It’s really because both the Texas and Santa Cruz actions are fraught with tons and tons of legal expense two doves motions and discovery and the city council and Board of Supervisors will get cold feet really fast. The omission of warnings from two Santa Cruz city and county recent Bond issues is the subject matter of Exxons potential Texas lawsuit that is being considered against all of our loveable but misguided “Town Clowns”. This of course will cost even more money so you can bet on this being a topic at the next city council meeting and I’m looking forward to having Hugh report on as the national media turns their cameras on our incompetent City and County management.

  4. Michael Richards worked as a lawyer for years. Local guy, professional, put himself through law school even though his mom was also an attorney and once a partner in a local firm. Something happened in 2015; I’m not exactly sure what, but mental health issues and drug use turned him into who he his today. Used to be a great guy and I hope he can get back to being that person with some help. Obviously, right now he’s not doing so well and has serious problems that leads him to cause serious problems.

    • Thanks Street for that backstory information. He obviously needs help right now. But as usual, the county, who is responsible for mental health services, is willfully negligent here. They even have their own department dedicated to helping guys like Michael Richards. http://www.santacruzhealth.org/HSAHome/HSADivisions/BehavioralHealth/AdultMentalHealthServices.aspx

      But obviously something is broken and not working here, and that applies both to Richards and County Health Services (and the county Board of Supervisors who are ultimately responsible for the lack of county wide mental health and substance abuse treatment options). It’s like some dirty little secret that nobody wants to talk about.

  5. Somebody needs to kick the newly-arrived parasites off the side of Highway one near the intersection with River st. All it would take is an errant motorist to go of the road on a rainy day, and plow through a bunch of the stolen tents and bicycles. Then we’d have an even bigger mess, with the poverty pimps and phony “advocates(Robert Kahnjob) demanding free housing for the “transients’ from-who-knows-where-they-got shipped here from.

  6. I saw the dead body in the median downtown. What I did not see, is any mention of this in any other local news, except the Mierda. Good job, I thought I was seeing things…

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