Crime, Fire & Courts

The public is invited to National Night Out, a series of gatherings held in communities throughout Santa Cruz County on Aug. 5 from 3-7pm. National Night Out Against Crime is a chance for people to meet the police officers, firefighters and first-responders who help them...

A 19-year-old Watsonville man has been arrested for allegedly kidnapping and sexually assaulting an underage girl.  Christopher Medina Amezquita was arrested in Capitola with help from Capitola Police, the Santa Cruz County Anti-Crime Team and the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office. He was booked into Santa Cruz...

A man was arrested Tuesday for driving a stolen car to the Monterey County Superior Courthouse in Salinas, where he was scheduled to appear for a previous auto theft case. Ricardo Otero, 41, was charged with driving a stolen vehicle, committing a felony while on...

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 investigate a four-vehicle crash on South Green Valley Road Tuesday morning. Michelle Pulido, spokeswoman for Watsonville Police, said an unlicensed teen male was traveling southbound on Green Valley in a Ford F350 pickup around 10:30am when he plowed into a Ford F150...

Monterey County District Attorney Jeannine Pacioni has begun an investigation into an officer-involved shooting on the Highway 101 northbound at Ralph Lane in Prunedale on March 15.  The California Highway Patrol was dispatched to a report of a solo vehicle collision with a guardrail on...

Two people died in a solo-vehicle crash early Saturday morning north of Santa Cruz. The California Highway Patrol said a black 2015 Chrysler 200 was traveling south on Highway 1 around 4am at an undetermined speed. For reasons still under investigation, the Chrysler crossed into...

A woman’s body recovered on Jan. 18 in the area of Smith Grade and Moore Ranch Road has been identified as 73-year-old Jeanne Burke, according to the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office.  Burke was last seen Nov. 18 at 4:30pm in the area of Moore...

A Watsonville man has been arrested on suspicion of causing a head-on DUI crash Sunday night near Salinas that left one man dead and five others hurt.  Miguel Soto Garcia, 29, was charged with felony DUI causing bodily injury, driving with a .08 alcohol level...

A Watsonville man was arrested Thursday after a car stop by the California Highway Patrol that led to the discovery of 14 firearms and drugs with a street value of over $15,000.  CHP officer Israel Murillo said officers pulled over a black Honda Sedan in...