APTOS — An Aromas man was arrested at Cabrillo College in Aptos Wednesday morning after allegedly making threats of violence against someone on the campus.
Jonah Watson, 20, was arrested when he returned to campus, Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Sgt. Brian Cleveland said.
He was not armed and had no weapons in his backpack.
Watson has been a student at Cabrillo since 2018, his Facebook page states.
Another student heard Watson make death threats against a specific person under his breath Tuesday, and reported it to Cabrillo administration early Wednesday, Cleveland said.
Sheriff’s investigators tracked Watson through his phone, and arrested him when he came onto campus, he said.
Watson, who lives in Aromas, was charged with threatening with the intent to terrorize. He was booked into Santa Cruz County Jail in lieu of $10,000 bail, jail records showed.
Cleveland said that law enforcement officials take every threat of violence as valid until they prove otherwise.
“Whether it’s a joke or not, it’s obviously something we take very seriously,” he said. “We want students to go to school and feel safe.”
Cabrillo spokeswoman Kristen Fabos said that Watson made the threats against someone in the college’s Accessibility Support Center (ASC), where he was receiving services. The ASC supports students with disabilities.
According to Watson’s Facebook page, he graduated from Aptos High School. He works at the Target store in Capitola as a guest advocate.
Fabos praised the quick work of the Sheriff’s office, which has a substation on the Aptos campus. She also thanked the student who reported the threats.
“We do take these threats incredibly seriously, and it’s very important for individuals who see or hear something to say something immediately,” Fabos said.
