Crime, Fire & Courts

Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s deputies and Pajaro Valley Unified School District officials are investigating after a bag containing a firearm and ammunition was found at Aptos High School. A mask was also found nearby, PVUSD spokesman Alejandro Chavez said in a press release. PVUSD has notified...

Local law agencies found a large stash of illegal firearms ammunition following a routine car stop. According to the California Highway Patrol, officers in April stopped a vehicle for a traffic violation in Santa Cruz County. The officers learned that the driver had a suspended...

Watsonville Police rounded up nearly 1,000 pounds of illegal fireworks after they uncovered a group of people—including a teenager—suspected of selling dangerous fireworks in Watsonville and across Santa Cruz, San Benito, and Monterey counties.  Watsonville Police spokeswoman Michelle Pulido said an investigation led them to...

A woman was stabbed to death Monday afternoon outside the Capitola Mall near the entrance to Macy's and the mall's food court. Tyler Leibelt, 19, of Santa Cruz, was booked into Santa Cruz County Jail on murder charges later that day, where he was being...

The discovery of a man's body along Pajaro River levee Thursday has prompted an investigation by the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies were dispatched for a report of a body at 5am. A forensic examination on Friday determined the person was a male, but officials did...

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...

A late-night bicycle stop ended with one arrest and the recovery of a loaded gun. Watsonville Police Department said that while on patrol Monday just before midnight, an officer stopped a cyclist for a vehicle code violation in the 1000 block of Main Street.  During...

Two people were arrested Tuesday after a traffic stop led to a chase that ended when the suspects’ vehicle crashed into a building on West Front Street. Officers later found a large amount of marijuana in the vehicle, the Watsonville Police Department said. Gabriela Melgoza, 20,...

Two 17-year-olds have been arrested in connection with an attempted murder following an operation Tuesday. Detectives, with the help of local law enforcement partners, served several search warrants in connection with a late-night shooting on Jan. 19 on the 1500 block of Freedom Boulevard, where...

Santa Cruz Police are warning the public of a string of fraudulent citations issued to parked vehicles near the beaches.