Crime, Fire & Courts

Skeletal remains found in 1995 off of Highway 129 near Aromas have been identified as 13-year-old Laura O’Malley from Queens, New York, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office announced Tuesday. On March 22, 1995, partial skeletal remains were discovered in a riverbed off Highway 129...

A San Jose man died in a two-vehicle crash on Highway 17 early Sunday morning. The California Highway Patrol said an unknown person was driving a gray 2012 Nissan 370Z at an undetermined speed northbound on Hwy. 17, north of Santa’s Village Road at 5:20am.  For...

This story has been updated with the victim's name and photo. Additionally, the victim is from Royal Oaks. The California Highway Patrol is asking for the public’s help in finding the driver of a pickup involved in a rollover crash Saturday in Las Lomas that...

Capitola Police on Tuesday arrested a burglary suspect after a chase that involved numerous law enforcement officials, and which closed down the streets surrounding the Shadowbrook restaurant.  The 37-year-old suspect was not identified. He was charged with resisting arrest, possession of stolen property and possession...

Watsonville Police on Tuesday arrested a registered sex offender after he allegedly followed and inappropriately touched a 17-year-old girl. Kenneth Wilder, 31, has been charged with assault with intent to commit rape, stalking, annoying or molesting a minor and sexual battery.  As a registered sex offender,...

A man died in a fire that engulfed a home in Aptos late Tuesday night.  Central Fire Division Chief Nigel Miller said firefighters were met with a multi-story home on the 1900 block of Seascape Boulevard fully engulfed in flames just before 11:30pm. “We got a...

An 18-year-old man who participated in the 2019 kidnapping, robbery and murder of tech executive and cannabis entrepreneur Tushar Atre was convicted Wednesday for his role in the crime. Prosecutors say Kaleb Charters dropped three accomplices off in the Pleasure Point neighborhood of Santa Cruz,...

A 70-year-old Watsonville woman suffered major injuries Sunday evening in a two-car crash on Highway 1 near Watsonville.  California Highway Patrol officer Israel Murillo said the woman was driving a silver 2017 Ford Fusion northbound on Highway 1 north of Mar Monte Avenue Sunday. At 5:52pm...

A man living in a homeless encampment in the Arana Gulch area was arrested Tuesday after he was found with illegal drugs, cash, police scanners and a passel of high-end stolen bikes totaling more than $30,000. Joshua Morris, 35, was charged with grant theft, possession...