Crime, Fire & Courts

A Watsonville man was arrested Tuesday after he was found in a hotel with a 15-year-old girl who had been reported missing out of Fresno. Darwin Linares, 24, was booked into Santa Cruz County Jail on charges of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor. He was...

A Watsonville firefighter cleans up at the scene of a two-vehicle crash Tuesday afternoon on Center Street in Watsonville. Watsonville police said the female driver of an Infiniti G 35 was travelling eastbound on Center Street just east of Beck Street around 2:45 pm...

A man died when a home caught fire late Monday night in Capitola Village.  Central Fire crews responded to the two-alarm fire at 9:50pm at 204 Monterey Ave. to flames lashing out the side of a building from the first and second floors of a...

A Seaside man was arrested in Pajaro on Saturday after he reportedly entered the open door of a residence, walked into a bedroom occupied by two young girls, began mumbling and proceeded to remove his pants. The girls, ages 6 and 9, screamed, and their...

Morgan Hill Police on Thursday arrested a Freedom man after he allegedly traveled to Morgan Hill to sexually assault a 12-year-old girl. Alexis Javier Mendez-Gallardo, 21, was booked into Santa Clara County Jail on suspicion of felony charges including rape of a child under 14;...

This story has been corrected from an earlier version. The chase did not go through Pajaro Middle School. A search for a wanted man with multiple outstanding warrants ended with his arrest after a chase that started in Pajaro and made its way into the...

A man suspected of driving while intoxicated was arrested early Friday morning after he reportedly lost control of his pickup and slammed into the front of the Ace Hardware store in downtown Watsonville.  Caught on security video, the white Chevrolet truck is shown coming around...

A late-night fire destroyed a truck at the Restore, a thrift shop in downtown Watsonville run by Habitat for Humanity Monterey Bay.  Firefighters responded to reports of a vehicle fire at 555 Main St. at 11:15pm and found a Ford F550 pickup fully engulfed in...

A man was arrested Tuesday after he allegedly brandished an altered replica firearm in Watsonville. Eduardo Lopez, 32, was cited and released. Witnesses called police after they saw a man waving an assault rifle in the air near East Lake Avenue at Blackburn Street just after...

A tow operator cleans up the area where a driver smashed into a utility pole Friday morning on Airport Boulevard at Roache Road. Watsonville Police said the male driver was traveling southbound on Freedom Boulevard just before 9am when he lost control of his...