The Weekly Dump 9.28.18

Food Fight Gone Bad Leads to Arrest

Wednesday afternoon around 3:30PM, a man was arrested for pulling out a gun during a fight at a church on Cabrillo College Drive in Aptos. According to reports from the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office, two men were waiting for a weekly food distribution at Twin Lakes Church when they started fighting about something. One man pushed the victim against a wall, then got a gun from the trunk of his car and pointed it in the air and threatened to kill the victim. After the suspect got into his car and left the scene, a deputy spotted the suspect and his vehicle on the 8000 block of Soquel Drive. Deputies searched and found the gun inside the suspect’s car. He was arrested for brandishing a gun near a school campus, brandishing a firearm, battery, threats, and using a firearm in the commission of a felony. After arriving at the county jail, the suspect refused to cooperate  and officers used pepper spray to subdue him. His bail was set at $60,000. Good thing we still actually have bail right? Or would you prefer this angry wingnut be out on his own recognizance?

False Alarm Puts Aptos Junior High School on Lockdown

Wednesday morning around 10:30AM, Aptos Junior High school was put on lockdown and a shelter in place was initiated after a report of a possible gun at the school. Reports from the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office indicated the school was placed on lockdown after a parent reported that their child heard another student talking about a gun. Deputies later determined that the students were talking about purchasing an air soft gun. All staff and students were safe and the lockdown was lifted around noon.

I’ll Bet You Didn’t Hear About This Story

Thursday morning around 2:30AM, I heard a report about a man who broke down the front door of a residence on the 100 block of Mason street near Bay and broke into the home. The elderly female resident was terrified and called 911 while hiding in the house. SCPD arrived and arrested one man at gunpoint at the home. The suspect also apparently had multiple guns registered to him. Fire and AMR had to respond after the victim complained of chest pains. The poor woman was probably having a heart attack. How’s that “Neighborhood Policing” propaganda working out for you?

Why People Don’t Like to Shop Downtown Anymore

Thursday afternoon around 1:30PM, I heard a report about a guy being tased by SCPD on Pacific Avenue. Even after being tased, he continued to fight with officers until they could finally get him handcuffed, and even after that he continued to be hostile towards SCPD. Medics were also called to respond to the suspect’s injuries after being a tased a couple times and splitting his head open. Turns out this barnacle is actually from Seattle and has a history of “violent tendencies” towards police. He was arrested for stolen property among other things. But of course, what we all want to know is HOW DID HE END UP HERE? Was it the welcome mat we roll out for people like him? He seems to have a cult following in Seattle. Can we send him back?

Suspicious Fire Near SCPD Damages Rental Cars

Monday night around midnight, an SCPD patrol officer noticed a fire burning in a hedge of shrubs in front of the Hertz rental car location on Center street. Santa Cruz Fire responded and quickly put out the fire, but the resulting blaze damaged at least 5 vehicles parked next to the hedge. Fire investigators deemed the fire “suspicious”.

Just Our Daily Car Thief Arrested in Santa Cruz

Wednesday morning around 2:30AM, SCPD stopped an SUV near May and Washburn avenues in Santa Cruz which turned out to be stolen. The 29 year old female driver from Gilroy was arrested on suspicion of three charges of possession of unlawful paraphernalia, possession of a controlled substance, receiving stolen property and vehicle theft. She also faces charges of theft and petty theft in Santa Clara County, according to Santa Cruz County Jail records. In unrelated cases, she also faces two charges of possession of paraphernalia and possession of methamphetamine that were filed in October, according to Santa Cruz County Superior Court documents. The 28 year old male passenger from Santa Cruz had outstanding warrants for his arrest, and was arrested in connection with vehicle theft and possession of unlawful paraphernalia in Santa Cruz, according to Santa Cruz County Jail records. He faces vehicle theft, possession of stolen property, possession of burglary tools, possession of a controlled substance and obstruction of a public officer in San Francisco, according to jail records. He is also accused of a probation violation in Santa Cruz County in January. Both remained in Santa Cruz County Jail on Wednesday afternoon. His bail was set at $175,000 and her bail was set at $56,000, according to jail records.

Another stolen vehicle was later recovered on the 1400 block of Ocean Street. Santa Cruz had 382 automobile thefts in 2016 and 362 automobile thefts in 2017, according to FBI crime data. That’s averages about one a day EVERY SINGLE DAY.

Identity Thief Busted in Soquel

This past Sunday, Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s deputies found a vehicle with a false registration sticker near a storage unit on Soquel Drive. One man was arrested for several warrants and the other was in possession of documents and personal identifying information to an elderly person they were caring for. It appeared they used a credit card in the person’s name to rent the storage unit.

Hand Grenade Found at Local Dump

This past Monday, an old hand grenade was found at the Buena Vista Landfill in Santa Cruz County. The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office responded and safely removed it.

City Council Shuts Down New Alternative Transportation Options in the City

The Santa Cruz city council unanimously voted to halt any more electric bike or scooter companies from doing new business in the city, just weeks after a company dropped off more than 100 electric scooters around Santa Cruz without the city’s permission. The city recently blessed the launch of Jump electric bikes just a few months ago. The scooter company dropped off the scooters, but the next day the city told the company to remove their scooters. When they didn’t comply, the city began impounding them.

Deputy T-Bones Thief in Stolen Truck

Last Friday, a Santa Cruz Sheriff’s deputy driving south on Highway 9 when a red truck traveling the opposite direction suddenly turned in front of him onto El Solyo Heights. The deputy hit the truck on it’s side. No one was injured but both vehicles suffered significant damage. After the accident, deputies discovered CHP was investigating the driver of the red truck for another vehicle theft which took place the previous day. That stolen car that was later found on Bear Creek Canyon, but the owner reported a guitar was taken from the vehicle. The same guitar was found inside the red truck genius here was driving, linking the man to the other vehicle theft. In addition, the red truck in the accident was also reported stolen.

At Least Move Your Junker Off the Road

While deputies from the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s office were patrolling near the Mesa Village area of Watsonville, they came upon a vehicle that was partially blocking the roadway. Deputies found two men working on the vehicle. Since one of the men was on probation, his vehicle was searched and deputies found a stolen .357 magnum handgun hidden in the engine compartment. Deputies also found an air soft gun with the orange tip painted over. One man was arrested for possession of a stolen firearm and the other was given a citation for possessing an air soft gun with an altered orange tip.

Good Times!

Good (honest) article in the latest Good Times. “A Santa Cruz Addict Talks Heroin, Meth, and Homelessness“. This is the “unfiltered” view of Santa Cruz that Martin Bernal & Co. try to repress from public viewing and consumption as much as possible. Nice job Hugh the Intern. Go watch the video I posted last week, which was made 5 years ago, and then read this article which was just posted this week. Is this status quo acceptable? Don’t ask me, ask yourself when voting for the next city council. Vote public safety first.

Red Tagged

I saw this posted recently on social media. It looks like the Red and Planet Fresh are shut down for the immediate future anyways. What I heard was something about “structural integrity” issues.

El Circo del Ayuntamiento

Starting to see lots of yards signs going up (and unfortunately, sometimes coming down). Starting to see more people out walking the beat. We still have at least 2 more public candidate forums coming up and I highly recommend going to one if you haven’t had the opportunity to hear the candidates speak for yourself.

Upcoming Candidate Forums (that I’m aware of):

These are all open to the public. Mark your calendars!

So this week I’m skipping the usual “line up” profiles I usually do every week, but if you want to read more about any of the candidates individually, click that link for the Chamber of Commerce forum right above this paragraph, as it includes an extensive profile bio of each candidate.

What I want to talk about this week is the really annoying, whiny, arm chair quarterback, back seat drivers out there who are complaining about how there are “too many moderates running” in this campaign, and how 2 of the progressive candidates will “bring their side together” while having too many moderates running will just decrease the chance of moderates winning a majority of seats. Just STFU already. First of all, you have no idea how people are going to actually vote. Are you polling voters? No? I didn’t think so. I keep hearing how “oh these 3 have the best chance of winning”. According to who? You and your uninformed opinion? Seriously, if someone, anyone, has the passion and the drive and the fortitude (and the guts) to actually run for 4 years of the Santa Cruz city council, by God let them run! Let the people decide who is right and stop trying to limit our selection because of your neurotic fear of the unknown. Honestly, I keep hearing this same bullshit and every single time, it’s coming from the mouth of some “machine” mouthpiece. Guess what? We know you’re worried about your shitty status quo. We know the “machine” has the most money to spend and yet, it’s still a minority (they can only endorse 3 out of 10 candidates). The status quo should be worried. But the answer isn’t to brow beat moderate candidates into not running, or dropping out. Here’s a suggestion. Let the 3 “machine” candidates drop out and lets see how well we do.

The Weekly Seen

Was it the daily “dumpster fire”?

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17 Comments

  1. We know the “machine” has the most money to spend and yet, it’s still a minority (they can only endorse 3 out of 10 candidates). The status quo should be worried. But the answer isn’t to brow beat moderate candidates into not running, or dropping out. Here’s a suggestion. Let the 3 “machine” candidates drop out and lets see how well we do.

    Love it. Don’t back down. Everyone deserves a chance to run. No gambit!

    • Ultimately, the difference between “winning” and “losing” in this city council election will come down to a few hundred votes (the difference between 3rd and 4th place here). The bottom line is with that small a margin for victory, it’s the candidates that can best get their supporters to actually turn out and vote that will ultimately win. Who can best rally their supporters, or register a wave of new supporters, or best engage new supporters to actually vote when it matters? Everything else is just noise. Expensive noise.

  2. Hasn’t there always been two main “machines” here? The People’s Democratic Club and the Women’s Democratic Club are representative of the two monied groups. Real outsiders seldom ever win. Not saying this is right, just that this is our reality.

    • The Women’s Club is the more mainstream group (so I’ve been told) and by all appearances, I’d have to agree with that view. The People’s Democratic Club is basically the wingnut, socialist arm of the the local “progressives”. The Women’s Club is the more moderate, “machine” backed group. The PDC are the mostly broke socialists, the Women’s Club are the “moderate progressives” back by Coonerty and Company. There’s some overlap of course, but one group is like the varsity squad and the other is the JV. So when I refer to the “machine”, I refer to the Coonerty and Company sponsored groups (and people). The PDC supports Glover and Cummings. The Machine would never support those 2 (although Martine Watkins is definitely “machine owned and operated” and she endorsed Cummings, so go figure). I think the landscape is shifting here, and the old power base is doing all they can to hold on to that power base, while others are seeing they really don’t want or need their help. Good question.

    • And I do see what I’d call a new “power base” brewing in Santa Cruz. I’m not going to mention them by name right now because I don’t want to jinx anything. But I am impressed with the potential. Maybe I’ll talk more about them after the election.

  3. oh man, i really wanted to blame all the crap around here on men… can we say evil powerful men are somehow manipulating the womens democratic club? is there any hope? dear god nooooo… at least they are more moderate than the socialists..

    speaking of communism, al gore got a “d” in his global warming class lol. He was given the Revelle award for promoting global warming research. Before he died, Roger Revelle said he believed global warming theory is probably wrong and needed to be challenged. Al Gore called him senile and refused to debate him!

    Just posting this since all the high density/global warming/one world government/communism for all is on full blast in this city…

    https://youtu.be/D6YTHi915rQ

    there is one point in the video where he shows huge climate variations just within the last several thousand years.

    • There are good people in all of these groups. My issues are almost always with management vs. the rank and file members. But the “women’s” group has a bunch of male members that paid their way in (resulting in a side eye from me) and the PDC, well let’s just say I’ve seen some of the names on their list. Neither group really scares or impresses me and the perceived value/threat of either group is seriously overstated. I encourage all the candidates to be yourselves first, not what others think you should or need to be.

  4. Interesting the city can hustle and impound scooters in a heartbeat. Didn’t take months of endless meetings. Bam! They’re gone. Now if they could just apply laws & boundaries with the influx of transients & criminals who run amok we might make some progress. Versus the usual shoulder shrug.

  5. I’m shocked about the break-in that happened on Mason with no notice. That location is right by the RR tracks and nearby Garfield Park on one side — Neary Lagoon on the other. These are the hotspots where the criminal and insane thieves and addicts hang.
    I’ll be voting for the Safety candidate for City Council — Paige Concannon. That is #1 for me.

  6. Maybe moving past the acronyms PDC and WDC, we can come up with a more relevant one that speaks to a lot of people who are sick and tired of the crime, filth and general mayhem in Santa Cruz. Just call it the SC for Safety Club, and to ensure it takes a secure place on the City Council, vote for Paige and Ashley.

    • Thanks Julie. One of the ideas I’ve been kicking around, in addition to the forum event that didn’t materialize this time around, is the idea of starting a PAC (Political Action Committee) to help raise money for select local candidates running for office, as well as providing support for other things like ballot measures. Kind of an extension of what I’ve started here. I’ve discussed it with a couple people and it’s still in a very early exploratory stage right now. Too late for this election, but I would love to have it set up before Leopold is up for re-election. Beyond the city council, we need to reform the Board of Supervisors in a big way. Maybe I can use the audience I created here and apply it towards larger change locally. It’s a good goal.

  7. this blog is all about the area being saturated with criminals, and local politics. this rant might seem off topic, but idk..

    i watched too many documentaries. one pattern that emerged: with communist takeover- usually the intellectual class believes socialism is the only cure for whatever problems they are facing. they vote in a socialist system. they also legally release many of the people who were considered criminals under the old system.

    then somehow most of those criminals magically get armed. in the congo, they showed the united nations arming them. once the thugs are armed, they go on a rampage slaughtering anyone who disagrees with the new order. at that point the intellectuals can see it was a mistake but there is no turning back.

    we can see here, the fight with rent control/private property rights- the leaders have admitted they believe in socialism and one world government. people against the measure are being accused of being in league with the kkk, or in love with money, one sign was spray painted with a dollar sign as if all money is evil. people are trespassing on private property as if it is the root of all evil. with the number of home invasions here, people already have very little sense of safety on their private property.

    its weird because we are in a county where a large portion of the intellectuals have been convinced that socialism is the only way to save the environment. the recent propositions in california have released tons of criminals. we also have an area highly saturated with young men on violent drugs, and often times armed.

    in addition to that there is a large gang presence also armed. how many docs are there showing the government is involved in the illegal drug trade? what was that latest movie with tom cruise flying drugs back and forth over the border…

    i know that all sounds crazy, but too many parallels. i hope the local intellectuals stop believing socialism is a magical cure all. the 1984 movie is an easy way to see what a trap it is. is it a cooincidence the wall fell in 1987? how did the author get so close to the actual date?! why did the soviet union look as bad as the book!?

    there is no pure socialism. it always ends up with some ruling family or families acting like a king. america is flawed, but what is left of this system is better than socialism. you could have some socialist leaders with good intentions, but the country ends up so poor, they have no way to fight any other more corrupt powers that be.

    google made some software so the chinese government can rate their citizens. if you get bad ratings, you have privileges taken away. one journalist who spoke out against the government has been given a bad rating. because of that he cant even buy a train ticket! google has been storing all of our personal data as well, and apparently they are talking about rating citizens here as well. every single move you make is rated as good or bad.

    it might seem like people have no power, but if the government didnt need consensus to do things like this, they wouldnt bother to saturate people with propaganda.

  8. Ben, good idea about starting a PAC for local issues like ballot measures.

  9. The most exciting voices for real change (as opposed to let’s talk the tired old talk that’s gotten us nowhere) are not the machine ones. Paige, Ashley, Phillip Crawford, they are all immersed in the issues and will serve us well. I doubt anyone of them consulted with Ryan Coonerty to get permission to run for city council, and that’s one hell of a plus.

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