Crime, Fire & Courts

The City of Watsonville on Thursday announced that Police Chief Jorge Zamora is retiring, with his last day set for Aug. 30. The retirement will end a law enforcement career of more than three decades. Zamora began as a police cadet when he was 15, and...

Monterey County Sheriff’s deputies on Saturday arrested two women who were allegedly running an unlicensed daycare center after a 3-month-old infant died in their care. Maria Marquez, 62, and her daughter, Johanna Marquez, 35, both of Royal Oaks, were charged with involuntary manslaughter, felony child...

A man living in a homeless encampment in the Arana Gulch area was arrested Tuesday after he was found with illegal drugs, cash, police scanners and a passel of high-end stolen bikes totaling more than $30,000. Joshua Morris, 35, was charged with grant theft, possession...

First-responders work to remove a vehicle rollover that occurred at 3pm on Wednesday at 41st Avenue and Clares Street. According to Capitola Police, the male driver of a Hyundai Kona was traveling north on 41st Avenue near Clares Street when the driver of a Mercedes...

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...

Watsonville Police teamed up with the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office in helping locate and impound one of five vehicles related to the illegal sideshow event that took place Feb. 2.  A joint enforcement operation took place that night with multiple law enforcement agencies. Based on...

A Boulder Creek man is in custody after a month-long investigation of a double murder in the Santa Cruz mountains. The investigation began when the bodies of two men were found in the back of a pick-up truck on Highway 35 on March 24.  On Sunday...

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 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...