The Weekly Dump 1.26.18

City of Santa Cruz Covers Its Assets

At the city council meeting this past Tuesday night, the city council declared a “Homeless Shelter Crisis”. Whatever that means. We have a crisis all right, but it’s the lack of leadership that is proving to be the real crisis here. We’re a city of what, about 65,000 people? We’ve got about 100, maybe 200 people living in a city park because the city manager and chief of police can’t find a better rug to sweep them under. But a “crisis”? That’s about 3/10ths of ONE percent (200/65,000 for those who want to check my math) of our city’s population. That’s a “crisis”? That’s not even 1 percent.  The crisis is the city and county’s inability to do anything about it. The crisis is a lack of vision and “tough love” and a serious lack of law ENFORCEMENT locally. I think this declaration is just more fear mongering on the city’s part to get whatever it is they want here (in this case, I think it’s release from various liabilities and responsibilities). I’ve mentioned the past few weeks this all about money. What do you think a release of liability is about? MONEY!

“We have seen an increase in our city. And we are finding that we need to respond differently. Innovate. Try different mechanism. So this is a tool we can use to find new shelter for these people in need” according to a statement issued by Assistant City Manager Tina Shull. What a pandering load of crap that statement is. “Allow us to modify some health safety and housing codes and create an alternative set of basic minimum standards, which we would still maintain to expedite the shelter,” according to the statement by Shull. In other words, let us waive any “basic minimum standards” so we can expedite getting something done as cheaply as possible. It’s always about the money and who pays for it.

In the meantime, Camp Coonerty continues to pollute the jewel of downtown, the San Lorenzo River, with human HAZMAT at the blessing of our city leaders. Who knows when “Camp Bonehead” will finally open for business (and yes, it is a cottage industry locally, the Homeless Industrial Complex). But the 2 “camps” are not mutually exclusive, and it’s going to take more than alternative parking lots to get the army of squatters out of San Lorenzo Park at this stage. It’s gonna take lots and lots of rain.

Camp Coonerty is Full of Stolen Stuff

Last Sunday, the Santa Cruz City Park Rangers recovered a missing dog and two different stolen bikes in Camp Coonerty. All in a day’s work! They recovered a 4 month old Shih Tzu that was reported stolen out of a vehicle from the Ross parking lot off River street the previous week. The puppy was found by a Ranger after they recognized the puppy from a flyer. The woman in possession of the dog said she found the dog wandering behind the Ross store on the West River Levee. The Ranger was able to recover the dog without incident and contacted the dog’s rightful owner. The same Ranger also managed to identify and recover a missing bike that was reported stolen from inside a vehicle in the Seabright neighborhood last week. The bike had apparently been abandoned in Camp Coonerty. Then later, the same Ranger and another ranger found a man in possession of a stolen bike, after spotting the bike chained to one of the tents in Camp Coonerty. After contacting the owner and notifying SCPD, the owner was able to identify her bike at the scene. The bike was stolen after thieves broke into her garage and took several bikes among other things.

He Probably Figured the Camping Gear Was Free Too

Around 4:30AM on Wednesday morning, SCPD responded to an alarm at Down Works on the 200 block of River Street. A First Alarm guard witnessed a man inside the business, throwing items out of a building window. SCPD Officers caught the 29 year old Santa Cruz man with almost $6,000 worth of stolen merchandise from the business. The stolen outdoor gear included down sleeping bags, a complete display rack of sunglasses and other merchandise with the tags still attached. He was arrested for commercial burglary and booked into jail, where his bail was set at $5,000.

More DOJ Fallout From Sanctuary City Status

The U.S. Department of Justice ramped up pressure Wednesday on so-called sanctuary cities, counties, and states seeking public safety grant money, warning that they could be legally forced to prove they are cooperating with federal immigration authorities. Officials sent letters to 25 jurisdictions across the U.S. threatening to issue subpoenas if they don’t willingly relinquish documents showing they aren’t withholding information about the citizenship or immigration status of people in custody. The City of Watsonville and Monterey County were on the list of 25. The Justice Department has repeatedly threatened to deny millions of dollars in important grant money to communities that refuse to comply with a federal statute requiring information-sharing with federal authorities, as part of the Trump administration’s promised crackdown on cities and states that refuse to help enforce U.S. immigration laws.

Man Shot in the Chest Off La Fonda

Saturday night around 7PM, I heard multiple reports of a shooting near La Fonda and Holway. A number of people reported the shooting took place in a set of apartments, and the victim was life flighted to a trauma center over the hill. SCPD said the victim was a 20 year old man who was shot multiple times. He was taken to Dominican Hospital, where he was later airlifted to a Bay Area Trauma center in critical condition. Nobody was arrested and there are no suspects at this time.

Blame the Tourists

Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s deputies arrested a 41 year old Santa Cruz man and a 28 year old Santa Cruz woman after they found them in a motel on the 500 block of Riverside Avenue on Monday with cash, drugs and guns, according to the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office. The male was charged with conspiracy, possession of methamphetamine to sell and possession of heroin to sell. The female was charged with possession of methamphetamine, possession of methamphetamine to sell. Deputies were serving an arrest warrant for the male when the female was found in another room also being used by the male. Inside both rooms, they found more than 50 grams of methamphetamine, more than 70 grams of heroin, more than 600 grams of marijuana, along with scales and packaging. They also found two hand guns with ammunition.

Shots Fired Near The Buttery

Around 1:45PM on Saturday afternoon, multiple reports came in about gunshots fired at a vehicle on Branciforte between Broadway and Soquel. Witnesses described hearing 3 shots and seeing them fired at a black Mustang from a group of Hispanic men in a white Jetta. One of the men in the Jetta, probably the shooter, reportedly jumped from the vehicle and was last seen jumping over fences near the flower stand next to the Buttery. Police found shattered glass and bullet casings at the scene. Again, no suspects were arrested here either.

Shots Fired Off Bixby

Sunday night around 6:30PM, at least one shot was fired from a Glock 30 handgun on the 100 block of Bixby street in Santa Cruz. SCPD was looking for a black Honda or Chrysler that was last seen leaving the scene. No victim was located at the scene, but SCPD notified Dominican to be on alert for possible gunshot wound victims. Counting the Watsonville shooting on Saturday, this marked the 4th shooting in Santa Cruz County in 48 hours.

Toys R Stolen

Santa Cruz County sheriff’s officials said Friday that they are seeking the public’s help in identifying a group of thieves who robbed a toy store. On Friday afternoon, sheriff’s officials released surveillance video that shows thieves engaged in a recent theft at a Toys R Us store. The suspects orchestrated a sophisticated plan to rob the store, and are believed to have robbed other stores as well, sheriff’s officials said.

Victim of an Unhappy Meal?

Monday night around 7:45PM, SCPD responded to a report of a shirtless man passed out in a bathroom stall of the McDonalds on Mission. An employee reported the man was breathing but unresponsive.

Van Hits Kid On Bike

Last Thursday morning around 7:30AM, I got a tip from one of our readers (Thanks Aimee!) that a gray van hit a kid head on as they were getting on the on ramp for Highway 1 southbound at Park avenue. The kid, who was was wearing a helmet, was apparently riding their bike the wrong way (on the wrong side of the road) on Park Ave, and when they crossed the intersection they were hit. Aimee said she checked with CHP and they said he had minor injuries, so apparently he wasn’t seriously injured.

Breaking and Entering and Stealing and Leaving

Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Deputies are searching for a man and woman who broke in the locked back door of an unoccupied 25th Avenue home around 2AM last Sunday and stole approximately $3,000 worth of electronics, according to a Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office report. Charges of felony burglary will be recommended if the suspects can be caught. It’s believed that the man was driving a Chevy Silverado with a long, narrow sticker across the top of the front windshield. Investigators are reviewing surveillance that will be released to the public.

Man Jumps Off the End of the Wharf

Tuesday around 1PM, a man reportedly jumped (or maybe fell) off the end of the wharf wearing only shorts and a t shirt. He somehow managed to pull himself out of the water, probably by pulling himself up onto one of the pylons that the seals and sea lions like to take their naps on. An employee of one of the nearby restaurants helped pull the man out of the water. He was also reportedly drunk. SCPD responded, along with fire and medics. The man told SCPD “he just wanted to take a dive in the ocean”. In the middle of January. Keeping Santa Cruz weird.

Head Butts Drive Me Nuts

Monday afternoon around 1:30PM, a report came in that a Hispanic male rolled up on a woman in a car, cut her off as she was walking, got out of the car and head butted her, then got back in the car and took off. That’s no way to treat a lady!

Fight at Denny’s on Ocean

Around 9:30PM on Sunday night, I heard a report about a fight at the Denny’s on Ocean. Two males were reported to be physically fighting using silverware as weapons. Fork you dude! The main aggressor was described as a male wearing a blanket, who grabbed a waiter or someone on their staff and challenged him to a fight. SCPD apparently saw the same guy earlier at Ferrells, and found the guy on Felker street. I checked his history here. Only 15 arrests locally. The byproduct of our failed progressive polices is this guy, 15 times recidivist, and counting.

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