Crime, Fire & Courts

Public defenders in Santa Cruz County will join colleagues across California and the nation April 23 in a coordinated protest highlighting what they describe as chronic underfunding and unmanageable caseloads that threaten defendants’ constitutional right to counsel. Chief Public Defender Heather Rogers is urging community...

A 61-year-old man and a 59-year-old woman, both of Hayward, died in a motorcycle crash on Highway 9 near Boulder Creek Saturday. The California Highway Patrol said an 18-year-old female from San Jose was driving a white 2018 Tesla Model 3 north on Hwy. 9...

Watsonville Fire responds to a report of a fire on the third floor of the five-story Resetar Residential Hotel Monday afternoon. Battalion Chief Chris Kramer said firefighters got a quick handle on the cardboard fire and that no injuries were reported in the 4pm...

Watsonville Police are asking for help in identifying a man who was caught on a security camera hurling a brick at a stained-glass window at St. Patrick’s Church March 14. WPD said the man, clad in white pants and a blue jacket, caused more than...

A Watsonville man was shot during an altercation late Sunday night near 7th and Hyde streets in Watsonville. Watsonville Police spokeswoman Michelle Pulido said a dispute between two men quickly escalated into a shooting, and then led to the suspect’s arrest in less than 24...

A San Jose man was arrested in Capitola on Oct. 5 on suspicion of the murder of a woman in San Jose.  Venko Gospodinov was booked into the Santa Clara County Jail for murder.  On Sunday around 2:50am, San Jose Police responded to a residence in...

Monterey County Sheriff’s deputies on Sunday arrested a Pacific Grove man with a WWII-era machine gun described as a “weapon of mass destruction.” Brian Richard Knabb, 42, also had a loaded .45 caliber pistol and a loaded 1911 A-1 pistol, sheriff’s deputies said. In addition, he...

A Felton woman died early Saturday morning in a head-on crash on Highway 9 north of Felton.  The California Highway Patrol said the 80-year-old woman was driving a red 1967 Volkswagen Beetle northbound on Hwy 9 at an undetermined speed around 8:20am.  Meanwhile, a 24-year-old Santa...

Kimberly LaBore, who has spent more than two decades behind bars for her part in a 1998 robbery and killing—and who was sentenced to 62 years to life for the crime—has been granted parole. Gov. Jerry Brown in 2017 commuted that sentence to a 20-year...

Watsonville Police process evidence Thursday night following a car stop on Hushbeck Street just after 7:30pm. While police managed to take the driver into custody, two people fled down Center Street on foot. Police found a handgun at the scene and recovered a stolen...