Crime, Fire & Courts

A Santa Cruz man known for coaching Pop Warner football in Santa Cruz was arrested Tuesday for an alleged sexual assault involving a minor. Christopher John Weekes, 32, was charged with lewd and lascivious acts on a child under 14, oral copulation with a minor...

This story has been updated from a previous version. A woman escaped injury when her SUV smashed into a utility pole early Sunday morning on the 100 block of Airport Boulevard. The woman was traveling eastbound on Airport Boulevard at 7:55am approaching Freedom Boulevard when,...

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...

Watsonville Police Chief Jorge Zamora (left) is recognized by detective Colin Travers Friday during a farewell lunch at the Watsonville Police Department. Following 33 years of service with WPD, Zamora worked his way through a list of ranks and titles, including Chief for the...

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...

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...

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...

An investigation that began with a traffic stop accelerated when investigators found multiple firearms, firearm suppressors, high-capacity magazines, ammunition, firearm manufacturing components and methamphetamine in a Monterey County residence. Richard Orin Johnson was charged with manufacture or possession of an undetectable firearm, assembling a firearm...

Monterey County Sheriff's deputies arrested a Castroville man Wednesday during a car stop for possession of a stolen handgun and a half pound of methamphetamine. Around 12:24pm a deputy conducted a car stop for vehicle code violations in the 10700 block of Merritt Street in...

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...