Crime, Fire & Courts

A Watsonville man was sentenced to 25 years and 8 months in state prison for human trafficking, sexual assault and drug crimes, Santa Cruz County District Attorney, Jeffrey Rosell announced Monday. Luis Alberto Salas pleaded no contest on Aug. 29 to multiple counts of human...

A Watsonville man was arrested on the night of Feb. 26 after he tried to outrun Watsonville Police during a traffic stop. When WPD made a traffic stop on East Lake Avenue, 31-year-old Jose Alberto Sanchez leapt from the car and fled on foot, WPD...

A man was arrested Thursday night on the 700 block of Palm Avenue on suspicion of attempted murder. With the help of SWAT officers Watsonville Police tracked down Francisco Aceves, 25, on suspicion of shooting a 42-year-old man at the Sofspra Car Wash on the...

Watsonville Police have identified the suspect who was arrested Oct. 3 after he holed up inside a vacant home on Clifford Avenue.  Javier Diaz Baruc, 30, was charged with burglary, resisting arrest, and possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia, along with multiple outstanding warrants for...

Monterey County Sheriff’s deputies on Friday arrested a Pajaro man for the murder of Watsonville resident Jesús Alfonso Duarte Figueroa, whose body was found buried along the Pajaro River levee in April. Bernardino Rickie Sanchez, 61, was booked into Monterey County Jail in lieu of...

At an upcoming meeting, the Watsonville City Council will consider renewing a contract with Atlanta, Ga.-based Flock Safety, which has installed 20 license plate reader cameras throughout the city. Watsonville signed a two-year contract with Flock in 2023 for $132,000. In the past six months, the...

A Watsonville man suffered minor injuries Monday when he lost control of his Toyota Tundra pickup and rolled upside down on a hillside on Highway 1 in Watsonville. The California Highway Patrol said no other vehicles were involved. The man was entering southbound Highway...

A Watsonville man is in custody following an intense search by multiple law agencies Monday after reportedly threatening a woman’s life and her baby when he showed up at her Ford Street apartment with an assault rifle at 11am.  Javier Lopez, 31, was booked into...

A suspicious bag left leaning against a California Highway Patrol vehicle in Prunedale Monday—which prompted a response from the Monterey County Sheriff’s Bomb Squad and the brief detainment of the man who left it—turned out to be nothing more than a lost computer bag. According...

An 86-year-old Fresno man was convicted on Aug. 26 for a double-murder committed more than three decades ago in Prunedale. According  to Monterey County Sheriff spokesman Andres Rosas, Ira Ulyesses Bastian murdered George Smith, 67, and Eva Thompson, 79 in a Prunedale restaurant on Nov....