The Weekly Dump 6.2.17

Summer Has Officially Started in Santa Cruz

With Memorial Day last weekend, the unofficial start of summer has come to Santa Cruz. I took a walk on Main Beach last Saturday afternoon, and the beach and Boardwalk were packed. Traffic was a parking lot along Beach street for most of the afternoon. Pretty soon, we’ll have a new “weekly dump”. And it won’t be something you read.

Another Pedophile Arrested in Watsonville

Last Friday night, I heard about YET ANOTHER pedophile from Watsonville who was arrested and charged with 4 felonies involving raping children. WTF! And I’ve heard NOTHING from the mainstream media about this, despite the fact I know multiple people who reported it to them. Nothing in the Senile. Nothing on KSBW, or KION. But I’ll report it! Keeping Santa Cruz “vibrantly honest” here. How bad is this problem in Santa Cruz County right now? It’s hard to just call this an anomaly or a random act when we’ve seen at least 3 people arrested recently in Santa Cruz County for raping children. The latest pedophile to be arrested here is a 41 year old male from Watsonville. He was arrested last Thursday and charged with 4 felony counts of Lewd and Lascivious acts with a child under 14, one with force.

Rumble at Jack in the Box on Ocean Street

Monday night around 9:45PM, a report came in that possibly 20 people (20 people!) were fighting in front of the Jack in the Box on Ocean. SCPD sent at least 4 units to the scene. Some of the subjects jumped into a white BMW and sped off down Ocean street. SCPD was able to detain at least half of the brawlers at the restaurant. SCPD thinks this one was gang related as well. Sanctuary City baby! Five Hispanic suspects, 2 women and 3 men, were detained at Jack in the Box.

Gang Fight at the Roundabout

Monday night around 8PM, SCPD sent multiple units towards the wharf when a report came in of a gang fight with at least one Hispanic male throwing gang signs and possibly flashing a weapon. SCPD found one suspect walking towards the trestle bridge next to the Marine Sanctuary. Another suspect was found on the stairs at Cowells trying to get away. The second suspect got into a silver Honda at Las Palmas Taco Bar and headed towards downtown. SCPD was behind this car and stopped the car directly in front of SCPD main station. How convenient!

Intruder on High Street

Monday morning around 3AM, a woman on High street reported a man banging on her door. SCPD arrived and found the man in her yard. The woman apparently did not know the suspect, and no reason was given for why he was banging on her door at three in the morning.

Soquel High School Student Brings Gun to School

A Soquel High School student brought a loaded gun to school Thursday morning. Another student saw a 9mm gun in the student’s backpack and alerted school administrators, according to witnesses. When deputies searched the student’s backpack, they found the gun as well as drugs. Deputies got a search warrant for the student’s house when they learned he may have more guns. Upon searching the student’s home, they found a shotgun, ammunition, and meth. No one was injured in the school incident. Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s deputies took the 18 year old student into custody and arrested him. The student will likely be expelled just days before graduation, according to school administrators.

18 years old, days away from graduation, and you throw your life away like this? Sad. I could use the “kids do dumb things” excuse, but he’s not a kid. He’s 18. He’s an adult. Act like one or feel the repercussions for your actions.

Westside Campers Busted for Heroin and Methamphetamine

Last Friday morning around 1AM, an SCPD officer found two passed out people in a stolen white Toyota Camry on Delaware Avenue near Shaffer Road. SCPD needed 20 minutes to wake up the suspects. Officers apparently used their PA system, as well as an air horn and their siren to finally wake them from their opiate induced semi-coma. SCPD eventually identified 50 year old Mark Bounds and 26 year old Natasha Linderman as the occupants of the car. The two were arrested for a variety of charges. In addition to the stolen car, they had methamphetamine, heroin and drug paraphernalia in their possession. Linderman has also been making the rounds on the local social media circuit for having recently been filmed brazenly stealing art supplies from a local downtown merchant. Her response to being filmed while stealing from the local merchant? “Yeah whatever”. I feel that way a lot living here. That’s my usual response when the city tells me their gonna do something to address all the crime and improve public safety. 

Sunday Morning Beatdown on Locust Street

Sunday morning around 8:30AM, a report came in about a couple of guys beating up what was described as a “homeless man” by witnesses. This was on the 400 block of Locust street and involved 3 people and a Red Toyota pickup. The truck came up registered to one of the 3 people who lived in that block on Locust street. The fight may have been related to an auto burglary per SCPD. Sounds to me like a couple possible victims caught some local fool breaking into their truck and decided to dispense a bit of street justice on the suspect. Good thing SCPD showed up when they did or it could have gotten pretty bad for the bum trying to rip these guys off.

Taking Beat It Too Literally

Tuesday morning around 11AM, a report comes in about a bum masturbating in front of Camouflage on Pacific Avenue. PD stated that based on the suspect’s description, it was the 3rd call today for this person. When PD showed up, he ran and was caught and tackled to the ground in front of Hulas. Third call today and it’s only 11AM! This is completely ridiculous. Downtown is such a mess, and given the level of dysfunction in the city government and the seemingly oblivious attitude towards public safety downtown by the city council (among others), I honestly expect it to get messier before it gets better. We haven’t hit bottom yet. But we’re on our way!

12 Person Brawl in Birch Alley

Sunday afternoon around 4PM, a report came in about 12 people brawling in Birch Alley next to Graphix Pleasures. By the time SCPD showed up, everyone had dispersed. Man, we love big brawls in this town! There seems to be at least 2-3 every week downtown now.

Teen Prevents Possible Suicide 

Thanks to the quick thinking of a local teenager, a possibly suicidal person was rescued from jumping off a Santa Cruz County train trestle earlier this week. The person, who was a stranger to the teen, had hopped over the metal railing of the train trestle near 30th Avenue and was threatening to jump. When deputies arrived, they found a teenager holding onto the person, who had completely let go of the railing and was hanging from about 35 feet in the air. Two deputies helped the teen pull the person back over the train trestle railing to safety. The teen, whose name was not released, was praised by officials for their heroic actions. The suicidal person was taken to the County Behavioral Health Center for a mental health evaluation.

Suspected Pedophile Back in Court

Accused child molester Shawn Michael Cox was back in Santa Cruz County Superior Court last week to petition for his release after he allegedly had sex with a couple of 14 and 16 year old girls. Cox has pled not guilty to seven felonies. He’s been charged with two charges of forced copulation, penetration with an object, possession of obscene material depicting a minor, use of obscene material, unlawful intercourse, and sex by force with a 14 year old, according to court documents. What a piece of work this guy is! I’m sure his fellow inmates are gonna love this guy. Literally. A preliminary hearing also was scheduled for 9AM on July 31st in superior court. Assistant District Attorney Jason Gill said the prosecution plans to oppose any possible efforts to reduce bail, which is set at $150,000. Cox remained in custody at Santa Cruz County jail.

State of California Screws Santa Cruz Over Prop 47 Money

This week, we found out the State of California is giving us the shaft. On Wednesday, the Executive Steering Committee charged with ranking Prop 47 proposals made its final recommendations. The two proposals submitted by Santa Cruz County got NOTHING. ZERO. ZILCH. NADA. Well we did get something here. WE GOT THE SHAFT. The Board of State and Community Corrections will decide at its June 8th meeting whether to accept the committee’s recommendations.

These are the “funds” that the State initially estimated between $150 million and $250 million in annual savings to be passed down to the county level.  What a JOKE. What an absolute LOAD OF MIERDA this proposition is. We ALL feel the negative impacts of this idiotic legislation, and get none of the promised “benefits”. Blame the progressive lemmings that voted for this crap. Monterey County’s Health Department got 6 million dollars! Santa Cruz County’s Health Department got NOTHING. Maybe the people who dole this out took one look at the dysfunctional mess known as the Santa Cruz County Health Services Agency and said “uh…NO”. Two proposals were submitted by Santa Cruz County, one by Jim Hart for almost $6 million and one by County Probation for almost $1 million. REJECTED.

Abbott Square Marketplace Launch Delayed

I’m actually really looking forward to checking this out. The reason given for the delay was apparently the food court wasn’t ready yet. I walked through Abbott Square last week and the whole project actually seems to be unfinished, so I have no idea why they tried to rush the “opening”. This Friday night, Cooper street will be shut down for First Friday and the Ebb and Flow River Arts Celebration. Abbott Square will be having what they are calling a “Preview Night” on Friday, June 2nd from 5-9PM. More on the new Abbott Square here.

Ongoing Construction Project Downtown Expected to Disrupt Traffic Flow Through June

The Downtown Small Cell Project is expected to begin construction on Monday, June 5, and continue weekdays through Tuesday, June 20, between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. This Verizon project will install fiber optic cable to cellular sites in two locations:

• Pacific Avenue between Soquel Avenue and Cathcart Street.
• 2,150 ft. of Soquel Avenue from Pacific Avenue.

There will be sidewalk closures along with traffic control to minimize the impact to business entrances and street access.

Guerreros

by Ernie Douglas

Golden State Warriors:
The NBA Finals are here and we have the much anticipated meeting for the 3rd straight year between the Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Warriors won the first meeting in 2015, then they choked up a 3-1 series lead last year in losing to Cleveland. Last years loss of 3 straight games to lose the series still smarts with many of the players on the Warriors. Draymond Green is taking it personally. Curry and Klay are taking it personally. And this year, the Warriors have KEVIN FREAKING DURANT as their insurance policy. Game 1 was Thursday night in Oakland. The game was pretty close (and intense) through the first half. Then the Warriors flipped a switch and beat the Cavaliers by 22 points. KD had a monster game, 38 points (leading all scorers) and 8 rebounds and 8 assists, as well some lock down defense on the Cavaliers best players. It was a statement game to shut up all of his critics. KD is locked in and loaded. Curry also had a great game, 28 points, 10 assists, 8 rebounds. Great game by the Dubs.

Upcoming games this week: Game 2 is Sunday night in Oakland. Game 3 is Wednesday night in Cleveland.

Weekly Shoutouts

Weekly shoutout to Kevin Vogel on his retirement!

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