The Weekly Dump 8.4.17

Fognado Blows Through Santa Cruz

Wednesday afternoon, you might have seen or experienced what can only be described as a “Fognado” (thanks Ian!). Pretty crazy stuff. I was standing in my yard when it hit. A sunny calm day turned cloudy quickly and then an enormous gust of sustained wind hit and lasted nearly a minute before dissipating and then the sun came back out and all was calm again. It was over within 5 minutes. I haven’t heard of any injuries or damage related to the “fognado”, but it sure freaked a lot of people out! It blew a bunch of avocados off the tree in my yard, so that wasn’t a bad result for me.

Oakland Teenagers Terrorize Santa Cruz During Crime Spree

Hey, we’re “crazy safe” here right! At least that’s the giant turd I heard from Big Bird from Aptos, who seemingly LOVES to preach in oxymorons about how there’s no crime in Santa Cruz. Maybe she should stick to wallpapering local sharps boxes with flowers and unicorns farting rainbows. That’s the solution to our public safety issues. Put lipstick on a pig. She knows all about that.

Wednesday morning around 4AM, two teenagers from Oakland crashed a vehicle into a house on West Cliff Drive while fleeing from Santa Cruz police officers. The house, located on the corner of West Cliff and John Street, was damaged. The teens ran from the wrecked vehicle and police set up a perimeter to block off escape routes. Every available unit from SCPD, as well as multiple CHP units, were involved in the chase and resulting capture. Police arrested a 16 year old and a 17 year old from Oakland. Another suspect got away and remains at large. Police believe the teenagers were part of a group that went on an early morning crime spree with multiple armed robberies and attempted carjackings which happened over the course of five hours. A FIVE HOUR CRIME SPREE. CRAZY SAFE!

The first armed robbery took place around 2:30AM on the corner of Laurel Street and Myrtle Street. A man and two women were walking home when they were robbed at gunpoint. A second armed robbery occurred 20 minutes later on Mission Street near Palm Street, where another victim was robbed at gunpoint and attacked by three people. “The victims in both cases described the suspects as Hispanic males dressed in dark clothes. The suspects were seen driving away in a dark sedan,” according to a police statement. An attempted carjacking also occurred on the 200 block of Sacramento Street. The victim in that incident fought off the thieves, who fled. Police also found a gun on Mission and Bay Street. Officers later spotted the suspects’ vehicle and a high speed pursuit of the suspects took place down Mission street at speeds up to 70MPH. After the suspects wrecked the car on West Cliff Drive, officers searched the vehicle, and found “numerous stolen items belonging to the victims” according to police reports.

Man Threatens to Shoot Up Dominican Hospital

Tuesday morning, Dominican Hospital in Santa Cruz was placed on lock down because a man threatened to “shoot up the hospital,” according to the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s department. Other medical facilities in close proximity to Dominican were also locked down. The lock down was lifted at 11:30AM and no injuries were reported. The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s department treated the threat extremely seriously. Apparently, a man called 911 around 10AM. He was distraught and angry, claiming the hospital was mistreating and killing his wife and made threats to shoot up the hospital. There was a lot of community confusion about an “active shooter” at Dominican Hospital, however there was no evidence that the man ever went to the hospital with a gun. Thursday morning, an arrest was made in the case.

Bike Thief Busted in Davenport With 17 Bikes

This past Monday, a person saw a man unloading numerous bicycles from a U-Haul truck in Davenport. Worried that the bikes might be stolen, the concerned citizen contacted the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office. When deputies arrived, they spoke with the man who was placing the bikes in his home. The Deputy immediately recognized one of the bikes as being stolen. A total of 17 bikes were recovered as well as narcotics and cash. Of the 17 bikes recovered, only five bike owners have been identified. The suspected bike thief was booked into county jail. I heard that the location of the stolen bikes was located next door to the Santa Cruz Sheriff’s satellite office in Davenport. So someone else had to report it? They couldn’t see it themselves? Was nobody in the office? If you haven’t done so already, REGISTER YOUR BIKE! It exponentially increases the chance you get it back if it’s ever stolen and recovered by local law enforcement. 

Home Invasion Burglary in Live Oak 

Last Thursday afternoon, Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to a home invasion burglary on the 100 block of Moran Way. A couple of young teenagers were at home when they started to hear unusual noises in their kitchen. They checked on the noise and found an intruder rummaging through their personal belongings. Upon being discovered, the intruder fled from the home with a backpack he had stolen. Deputies located a man who matched the description of the suspect in the Moran Beach parking lot. Through eyewitness accounts and neighboring home surveillance systems, the suspect was identified as the intruder. Additionally, the suspect was in possession of the stolen backpack from the home. He was arrested and booked into County Jail.

Woman Punched in the Face Behind Riverfront Twin Cinema

Wednesday night around 7:30PM, a report came in that a woman was punched in the face by another woman in the area behind the Riverfront Twin cinema. The victim called SCPD wanting to press charges. Good luck there! Even if  they did arrest her (and that’s a BIG IF), she’d likely be released on her own recognizance and be back out punching people in the face tomorrow. It’s how the County Shuffle™ works around here.

Junkies Shooting Up in the Jessie Street Marsh

Wednesday night around 7:30PM, reports came in that 3 white males were openly shooting up in the Jessie Street marsh. Isn’t that next door to Chris Krohn’s house? Maybe he can do us all a favor and have them over to his place and let them shoot up in his living room? That’s one way to get those dirty needles off the street.

Kicking It at the Car Wash

Wednesday night around 11:30PM, I heard reports of between 15-20 transients taking up residence at the car wash on Mission. SCPD sent some folks out there to disperse their party. The funny thing is I took my car there earlier on Wednesday afternoon and even in the middle of the day, it was a hot mess, full of transients. Transients love to hang out in the back by the vacuum cleaners, where they are hidden and out of sight. It seems to be a notorious spot for people to buy and sell drugs, and that seemed to be the case the day I was there. The city knows all about the problems here. Car wash? More like a convenient, unattended front for local drug trafficking.

Bums Bothering the Junior Guards

Thursday morning around 10AM, reports came in that a transient bum was bothering the Junior Guards on the stairs in front of Cowell’s beach. Is anyone really surprised this is happening? SCPD sent 2 units down there to get rid of him. Why do we subject the kids in our community to such an ongoing shit show? Because our local “leaders” lack the spine to deal with it. City Manager Martin Bernal could drop the hammer here, but that wouldn’t be seen as “progressive” or “compassionate”. It would be seen as pragmatic and in the community at large’s best interest, but who cares about that? Not our city manager. Not our city council.

Welcome Chief Andy Mills!

Our new police chief starts work this week! Last week, new SCPD Chief Andy Mills begins his new post at the Santa Cruz Police Department. Chief Andy Mills recently served as the Chief of Police for the City of Eureka, California. He also serves on as a representative for the California Chiefs of Police Association. Before that, Chief Mills was a San Diego Police captain, assigned to both the Eastern and Western Divisions. Each of the commands served populations of about 150,000 residents and 200 employees. Prior to that, he served as the commanding officer of Criminal Intelligence and Counter Terrorism, two tours in the Gang Unit where he implemented Intelligence Led Policing, created an in house intelligence collection system and served on a statewide executive committee for gangs. Recently Mills helped create and implement the Major City Chief’s Criminal Intelligence Enterprise, adopted by the Major City Chiefs from the largest cities in the nation. City Manager Martin Bernal will be hosting a swearing in ceremony on Monday, August 7th at 4:00PM in the City Hall Courtyard. Following the oath of office, Chief Mills will comment on his new position as head of the Santa Cruz Police Department. The public is invited to attend.

Santa Cruz County Homeless Report Released

A couple weeks back, the latest numbers on the local homeless were released. I could say a lot about this report and the dubious methodologies used to collect this data, but I really wouldn’t have anything nice to say here. When the homeless numbers go up, the local “poverty pimps” come out looking for more money. Forget about “solutions” here, they need MORE homeless to come here in order to support their business model. Because if we actually REDUCED homelessness locally in Santa Cruz, we’d reduce the need to fund them, and that’s not a self sustaining business model, even for a non-profit. No, they need their annual funding, and ASR (friend of the local Homeless Services Center) is happy to oblige them with their dubious data.

You can read the full report here.

Alameda Expands Successful Laura’s Law Pilot Program

Recently, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 to expand to fully implement a pilot program that allows for the involuntary treatment of mentally ill people who aren’t receiving mental health services. In 2002, the state Legislature passed a bill known as “Laura’s Law”,  which permits court-ordered outpatient treatment of people with a documented history of mental illness. The law is named after Laura Wilcox, a mental health worker who was killed in Nevada County in 2001 by a man who had refused psychiatric treatment. Currently, more than 15 counties in the state, including San Francisco, have implemented Laura’s Law. Proponents such as Alameda County Board of Supervisors President Wilma Chan say that the law is a humane way to provide services to mentally ill people who need them but aren’t getting them. Chan said expanding the program “is a real difficult decision” but she said “it’s another way to get people into the mental health system. We can’t force people to take their medications and we don’t lock them up.”

Locally, I know a number of people have had conversations about trying to start a local pilot program for Laura’s Law in Santa Cruz with certain members of the Board of Supervisors (cough Ryan Coonerty cough) and were just basically blown off. Here’s a legitimate, successful pilot program case study here in the Bay Area, but that’s not good enough for some people to listen to. Ryan knows best! He’s never let facts get in the way of progressive, fear mongering rhetoric before, so why should we expect anything different from him now?

Y&T For Free at the Boardwalk

With 18 albums and 3 greatest hits collections, Y&T has sold over 4 million albums since their debut in  1974. Known for hits like “Forever,” “Rescue Me,” “Mean Streak,” and “Summertime Girls”, they had five Top 100 albums and won two Bammie Awards. Metallica and Mötley Crüe used to open for these guys! Free shows at 6:30 and 8:30.

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