The Weekly Dump 6.8.18

It’s the Same Old Song and Dance

As Sinatra would say, it’s the same old song and dance! Talk about voter apathy and ignorance locally. All I can say is “don’t blame me!”. I’m not the one who voted for another four years of empty promises and hot air from Ryan Coonerty. I’m not the one who bailed out city manager Martin Bernal by raising my own taxes, to be used however he wants to use it. There is one thing we are really good at it here in Santa Cruz. We are really good at our inability to get out of our own way. Our city administrators fleece the community by declaring an emergency to get our tax measures on the ballot the easy way, then the city can bypass the need for community approval beyond a simple majority at the ballot. No need for signatures. And you think you can trust them to spend that money in a fiscally responsible manner? I don’t.

11 Year Old Girl Assaulted by Creeper in Live Oak

This past Saturday night around 10:30PM, an 11 year old girl was with her mother in a 7-11 store on 30th Avenue and Portola drive when a man inappropriately grabbed the girl from behind. The girl’s mother and the store clerk kicked the suspect out of the store, and the suspect left on 30th Avenue towards Brommer Street. Detectives obtained surveillance video of the suspect and after posting the video on social media, a 29 year old male was identified as the suspect who grabbed the girl. Apparently, he wasn’t even arrested. He was cited. As in given a ticket. Given a ticket for basically groping an 11 year old girl in public. That’s Santa Cruz folks!

Shuffling the Deckchairs on the Titanic

According to recent reports, more than half of the Parks and Recreation rangers will now be reporting directly to the Santa Cruz Police Department starting next month. Police Chief Andy Mills said the rangers will have the same responsibilities as before, but a different focus. The same but different. Ok. Something doesn’t smell right.

Several months ago, Mills rolled out a new strategy breaking the city into 5 “neighborhood” areas. Starting July 1st, the department is bringing on nine rangers to increase enforcement in the areas needing the most help. Well, that’s nice but why don’t they just hire more cops and let the Rangers keep uh “rangering“? They aren’t cops. They aren’t paid to be cops. But they’re expected to be de facto “pseudo” cops, under this new plan? As I said, why not just hire more cops? How much of that new Measure S cashflow that will soon allow the city to print money will go towards hiring more cops? I’ll bet the answer is ZERO. We’ll hear a bunch of talking head nonsense about how none of that money has been targeted for anything yet (which is actually true), but mark my words, that money will be strictly used to bail the city out of it’s mounting pension problems, not to increase public safety. There are currently 13 rangers with the city’s Parks and Recreation department and starting on July 1st, 9 will go over to the police department. Four rangers will stay with Parks and Recreation and continue to focus on parks and open spaces.

Felons With Guns on Ocean Street

Tuesday morning around 1:30AM, SCPD responded to several reports of shots being fired on the 1000 block of Ocean Street. When they arrived, officers learned from witnesses that a male who appeared to be concealing a weapon was seen running into a motel room with several other people after the shooting occurred. CHP also located several shell casings near the motel. SCPD conducted a call out of the room and detained two men and two women, where they also found an 18 month old child asleep. A search of the room recovered a Glock .40 pistol on the floor. The shell casings found near the motel was also from a .40 caliber handgun. Officers also found a 9 mm handgun in the motel room. After reviewing motel surveillance video and conducting interviews with witnesses, SCPD determined that an 18 year old man from Los Banos had fired the gun. He was arrested for willful discharge of a firearm negligently, carrying an unregistered loaded handgun, and child cruelty. Another 20 year old man from Los Banos who was in the room was on felony probation, and arrested for being a felon in possession of a firearm. He is the father young child found in the motel room. The child is now in the custody of the mother.

Fifteen Year Old Arrested for Aptos Hammer Attack

Last Friday afternoon, reports came out that an arrest had been made in the brutal Aptos hammer attacks on 3 teenagers. Detectives identified a 15 year old as one of the attackers and arrested him around 10:30AM in Watsonville. The teen was booked into Juvenile Hall on charges of assault with a deadly weapon and robbery. I haven’t heard about any other arrests, despite the original reports indicating it was a group of males that assaulted the teens.

Attempted Kidnapping at Pinto Lake County Park

Saturday afternoon around 4PM, a woman was gathering items out of the trunk of her car during a family party at Pinto Lake County Park when she was approached and grabbed by an adult male, who tried to pull her away from her car as she struggled and screamed for help. She was able to break free from the suspect and return to her family. The suspect got into a vehicle described as a light blue, 2 door Honda Accord with sun damage to the paint.

Shooter on Highway 17 Arrested Near Rio Del Mar

Monday morning around 10:30AM, Santa Cruz County law enforcement agencies pursued the driver of a white truck on after he shot at another driver on Highway 17. The victim stated he had been shot at while traveling southbound on Highway 17 near the Glenwood cutoff. Authorities later said they believed the weapon used in the shooting was a pepper ball or paint gun. Minutes later, a vehicle matching the description of the suspect failed to yield to a CHP officer on southbound Highway 1 near the 41st Avenue exit, before officers were able to stop the vehicle on Rio Del Mar. The driver was eventually arrested.

What’s Up With Those RVs I See Parked All Around Town?

Wednesday night, Santa Cruz Sheriffs deputies found an RV that was parked at the end of Newell Creek Road in Ben Lomond. A man and two women were found inside, and when confronted the man gave them a fake name. One woman was on probation. Deputies found the third woman hiding inside. During the ensuing search of the vehicle, they also found over 75 pieces of mail, credit cards, check books, and drivers licenses in other people’s names. The man was arrested for supplying a false name, identity theft, and his warrants. One woman was arrested for three warrants and identity theft. The other was arrested for being a felon in possession of ammunition, identity theft, and possession of an illegal knife. All three were booked into the Santa Cruz County jail.

Put Down Your Pipe

Thursday around noon, I heard a report of a man standing in the middle of the roadway at East Cliff and 5th swinging a 4 foot metal pipe around and hitting vehicles. At least one witness reported being stopped in traffic when the man hit his car with the pipe. It didn’t sound like SCPD wanted to respond because they claimed it was the Sheriffs Office problem (I hear that a lot actually). It wasn’t but that didn’t matter to them. I think someone from the Sheriff’s office eventually showed up and searched the area unsuccessfully for the suspect.

Dog Thief Caught and Arrested in Live Oak

Months after being stolen, a deputy reunited a dog to the Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter. A Santa Cruz County Sheriff deputy was working the swing shift last Wednesday night when he spotted Bella (the dog) in Live Oak with a woman who had been a suspect in the original dognapping case. Bella had been dognapped back in March. The 29 year old woman had multiple warrants out for her arrest and was booked into Santa Cruz County Jail.

Four Hurt in Highway One Rollover Crash Near Aptos

Saturday afternoon around 3:30PM, a rollover crash on Highway 1 near Freedom Boulevard in Aptos sent four people to the  hospital. According to CHP reports, the vehicle was speeding and crashed into a wall before it rolled over twice. The driver and passengers were trapped inside of the vehicle before all four people were extricated and transported to local hospitals. It took about an hour to clear the roadway. No word on the extent of their injuries.

Fall From Grace

Around 5PM on Monday afternoon, An 18 year old man suffered serious injuries after he fell about 15 feet off a ledge at the Garden of Eden area of Henry Cowell State Park in Felton. Several fire crews responded and packaged the victim, using a train from Roaring Camp Railroads to help evacuate the teen to a medical helicopter. The man suffered shoulder and rib injuries and was taken to Valley Medical Center.

Attic Fire Torches Santa Cruz Home

Saturday night around 6:30PM, firefighters knocked down an attic fire at a home on the 100 block of Ross Street. Neighbors called in the fire after seeing heavy black smoke coming from the roof. The fire was under control within about 20 minutes and took three hours to extinguish. Nobody was home at the time of the fire, and nobody was injured. The fire cause was determined to be from an electrical source in the kitchen ceiling, with property damage estimated at $200,000.

Can We Stop Calling Him Doctor Now?

The Santa Cruz brain surgeon who is accused of running a child-sex ring has lost his medical license. James Kohut and two female nurses were arrested last year on suspicion of running a child-sex ring after Watsonville police officers said they found sex videos implicating all three. Kohut pleaded not guilty to 48 felony counts. He remains locked in Santa Cruz County Jail with his bail set at $7.5 million. A preliminary hearing for Kohut and his two co-defendants, Emily Joy Stephens and Rashel Melina Brandon, is scheduled for August 27th.

While You Were Sleeping

There’s just too much here for me to cover individually. One night in the life of a graveyard shift, in a town where the walking dead seem to come out at night. We get what we are willing to tolerate.

Herbie Rides Again!

Here’s a trailer from “Bumblebee”, kind of a cross between the Love Bug and Transformers. Filmed right here in Santa Cruz!

Bumblebee Official Trailer

Salinas City Council Considers RV Ban on Public Streets

The Salinas City Council is looking at possibly regulating over-sized parking on public streets and in public spaces. The ordinance impacts vehicles over 22 feet in length or 7 feet in height, including RV’s, boats and trailers.

The Happy Story of the Week

We’ve Got Pride Here in Santa Cruz! It was nice to see so many people turn out downtown last week for the annual Pride Parade event along Pacific Avenue. Everyone was so well behaved, lots of families, and lots of people enjoying themselves downtown. There were lots of shiny, happy people everywhere!

DeCinzotized – Classic DeCinzo

Four More Years! Four More Years!

The Weekly Seen

Merman spotted at Cowells Beach recently. Does he know how dirty that water is?

The Happy Ending

 

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11 Comments

  1. Candi Walker

    I love your writings, makes me laugh on Thurs pm.
    SC is a great city but I totally agree with you – voting in those politicians what a disaster – tax hike just makes NO ONE ACCOUNTABLE…. we need NEW PEOPLE !!!

    • Stunning to see that all County positions up for a vote were running unopposed. Can’t wait for the mid terms. I will right in Disney characters if it will get these so and so’s out of office.

  2. Not sure if you heard but Java Junction (River St. & Hwy 1) got broken into the other night. Attempted robbery of a coffe shop gets you what? Absolutely nothing. But they did a $1000 of damage and SCPD says there’s not much they can do. That’s okay we welcome free spirits!
    I followed a piece of crap RV up Mission St. this morning. The driver flicking his cigarette out the window and his dog stretched out on the dashboard. Then I noticed his registration tag. November 2000. But that’s okay we welcome free spirits!

  3. Dog Thief Caught and Arrested in Live Oak
    Months after being stolen, a deputy reunited a dog to the Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter. A Santa Cruz County Sheriff deputy was working the swing shift last Wednesday night when he spotted Bella (the dog) in Live Oak with a woman who had been a suspect in the original dognapping case. Bella had been dognapped back in March. The 29 year old woman had multiple warrants out for her arrest and was booked into Santa Cruz County Jail.

    Great. But the guy who groped the little girl gets a ticket. Glad to know the coppers have their priorities straight.

  4. groping 11 yr old girls is legal here? talk about dirty hippie. and those park rangers- wth? are we just sending them out for slaughter? how can the people retired and taking their enormous pensions have no guilt when they see this mess? why is there nothing on the ballots about pension reform?

    i hope salinas makes it illegal to park rvs all over, and i hope santa cruz follows suit. when i read that most local homeless are middle aged white men, i have to admit i was surprised. the more i think about it though, it makes perfect sense.

    if the local homeless were mostly african america males on meth in abandoned rvs, they would get NONE of these privileges. sorry to say but this city is not as left wing as it thinks. this is white male privilege. makes me sick. and no i dont feel like paying for each of them to have a shiny new tiny home.

    • Larry Hill

      Wait, let me see if I got this straight. Because the majority of homeless are white males, it’s proof of white male privilege?

  5. Sheesh, tons of miedra this week. Sad.

  6. This was one of your best opens ever Ben. You capped on Coonedty, pointed to the idiocy of bailing out Bernal by the sneakiness of the council declaring an emergency to tax the citizenry and cover up their incompetence, and then you put the hammer down with Mills and his stupid reassignment of the Rangers. Oh my God when does this end. Excellent journalism.

  7. So being a middle aged homeless drug addict in a rolling ghetto is “white privileged”????….oh my,…..:(

    • Larry Hill

      That’s right…white male privilege can now be measured by how many white males are living in squalor and despair.

      A response so void of logic, reason and intellect for the purpose of perpetuating the progressive sexist narrative can only be hatched from a UCSC student.

  8. That sounds like something Becky or that nutty hag in Aptos, Dunce Uglycrack would say.

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