Santa Cruz Police

The Santa Cruz Police Department is proud to announce the promotion of Lieutenant Christian LeMoss.

Lieutenant LeMoss started his career as a Reserve Police Officer. He worked as a Reserve for three years before we finally picked him up off waivers and hired him as a full time Police Officer in 1994.

Christian didn't waste any time getting a broad range of experience. He has served in a number of roles throughout the department. Some of his highlights include work as a Field Training Officer responsible for training new police officers, Beat Coordinator managing long-term neighborhood issues and connecting resources, and the Downtown Unit working foot patrol with business owners and community members. Lieutenant LeMoss has also worked as a detective assigned to investigate homicide, sexual assault and domestic violence crimes.

Lieutenant LeMoss is a founding member of the Department’s Emergency Services Unit (ESU) tactical team. He has developed training and procedures to make the team tactically sound and safe during emergency operations.

Chief Vogel stated, “I am proud to promote Christian to the position of Lieutenant. He brings a synergy of solid tactical skills and management sense. He will be a vital part of moving the department forward to face the challenges ahead”.

Lieutenant LeMoss grew up in Santa Cruz County after his Jr. High years. He is a proud Aptos High Alumni and holds an Associate’s degree in Criminal Justice and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management. He lives in the Santa Cruz area with his wife and two children.

Lieutenant LeMoss' promotion fills one of two Lieutenant vacancies in the organization, created by retirements. His addition to the Operations Watch Commander team will bring significant relief and will be a welcome and needed addition.

Please join us in congratulating Lieutenant Christian LeMoss!

Halloween is quickly coming. We actually begin lining up all the logistics and preparing for this around April each year. Lt. Warren Barry is the master strategist behind this year’s plan and he is ready to go.

We will have over 100 police officers and a ton of private security, to give an adequate uniform presence helping ensure the night stays safe for all.

As you might have guessed, alcohol-fueled problems tend to be what occupies most of our responses. Our strategy is early intervention of potential problems, so that they don’t grow into bigger problems later in the night.

If you are drunk and/or a problem, we’ll have plenty of officers there to help ensure you spend the night at the most bizarre costume party in town……the jail drunk tank on Halloween night.

To help out with the problems, we have again initiated a Safety Enhancement Zone. This means there will be triple fines for offenders and road closures for traffic safety. Here is a map of the triple fine area along with some examples of fines.

Here is a list of the road closure and No Parking times & locations.

We will also have additional officers out in the rest of the vicinity to make sure tings stay safe for those Trick-Or-Treater’s. Please drive safe and smart through our city streets, and beware of those little ones out and about.

The bottom line……enjoy the night. Stay Smart – Stay Sober – Stay Safe.

When it comes to the low-down dirty things you can do….stealing a kid’s bike is one of them.

On Monday (September 8^th) at about 6:00 PM, we took a report from a 13 year old young man who was at Safeway on Mission Street getting groceries for his family. While he was inside the store, this guy stole his bicycle:

The suspect is captured on store video taking the bicycle from the bike rack. The image we have is from the suspect being inside the store just prior to the theft.

The suspect is described as a white male in his early 20’s wearing the baseball cap and black sleeveless shirt. If you recognize him, please call us. We’d love to get the bicycle back and we’d love to lock this guy up!!!

The stolen bicycle is described as a red cruiser.

As far as our 13 year old victim, we are making a bicycle available to him through our program with the Teen center using bicycles from our inventory of stored bicycles.

While we are at it…we had two bicycles reported stolen this morning (September 11^th) while locked to a car bike rack near Maple and Center Streets.

The bikes were taken in the night between 9:00 PM last night and 8:00 AM this morning. Here is a picture of the bikes.

They are also described as:

A forest green Soma Saga brand men's bicycle, 8 speeds, with steel fenders, a brown leather seat, brown handle bar grips, and "Gator Skin" brand tires, valued at $1,200.

A dark blue Globe Vienna brand women's bicycle, with steel fenders, a black seat, black handlebar grips, and a generator attached to the front tire that was used to power the large head lamp affixed to the goose neck of the bicycle. This bicycle was valued at about $800.

Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Santa Cruz Police Department Investigations Unit (831) 420-5820. Anonymous tips can also be sent to the police department through our Tip Line (831) 420-5995, or from our Website; www.santacruzpolice.com . Tipsters can also submit an anonymous tip via our smartphone app or from an SMS text. Visit our Website for instructions.

The last time we wrote about this couple, they were arrested after Mr. Pineda was found packing around a loaded .45 caliber handgun in his car

and Ms. Feurtado was found in possession of heroin and drug paraphernalia, while in violation of her probation terms.

Back on August 25th, we posted them on our blog here:

http://santacruzpolice.blogspot.com/2014/08/another-gun-and-felons-off-streets.html

Fast-forward to last Saturday night October 25^th, our Neighborhood Enforcement Team was out on the prowl and much to their surprise, they found these two out of custody and cruising about on Ross Street near Highland Ave. For those of you keeping critical stats, they were in a silver Toyota Tercel, License Plate #3NDZ636. The math on this one is simple:

This Car

+ Your Neighborhood

= Public Safety Concern

When our officers contacted the pair inside the car, we had our canine officer with Argus the Wonder Dog show up and help with a search. Argus hit on a Canada Dry soda can that looked like it had seen better days.

That’s because it wasn’t really a soda can, it was one of those can safes.

And inside the can wasn’t Canada Dry, but rather a healthy amount of Mexico brown tar heroin with a splash of Santa Cruz methamphetamine. We also found a digital scale and drug packaging material.

Ms. Feurtado was once again found in possession of drug paraphernalia, and once again in violation of her probation terms.

ONCE AGAIN….this couple was booked into jail for felony charges. Mr. Pineda for transporting and possession of drugs for sales, as well as his felony committed while out on bail. Ms. Feurtado was booked for violating her probation terms and for being in possession of the drug paraphernalia.

Another great case from our Neighborhood Enforcement Team and Argus!!!

The Santa Cruz Police Department has been alerted to a new phone scam being perpetrated on parents of UCSC students. Parents of UCSC students have received phone calls where the caller indicates their student has active warrants and owes money for the warrants. The caller has tried to collect money for the bogus warrants.

The caller ID on the incoming call has been programmed to indicate the business line phone number for the Santa Cruz Police Department (831) 420-5800.

These calls are not coming from the Santa Cruz Police Department. The police department does not accept payment for warrant bail amounts. All warrant bails are paid through the Court Clerk’s office and not the police department. Additionally, the police department and the Sheriff’s Office do not make phone calls soliciting money for warrant bails.

Our best advice is Never, Never, Never, Never make "payments" or reveal personal information over the phone or online to anyone you do not know. Too many crooks are trying to steal your info and they will do bad things to your credit and bank accounts.

If anyone has received such a call, please contact our dispatch center to file a report (831) 471-1131, or file an online report on our Website www.santacruzpolice.com.

If you have doubts about the authenticity of a call initiated from the police department, you can always hang up and call us at our dispatch center or business line to verify.

Historically in phone scams, callers have bullied the victim becoming aggressive and threatening. If you receive a call where the caller bullies or threatens, simply hang up and call 9-1-1. If it is really the police and if we really want you.....we'll be there in a jiffy.

4 Suspects were arrested after a homeowner caught them breaking into his car at approximately 4:35 AM this morning. This all happened on Pelton Ave when the homeowner was awakened by the sound of our suspects breaking into his car. They called 9-1-1 and got a good description of the suspects and their minivan getaway car.

Johnny on the spot was Officer Denise Cockrum who found the getaway mobile trying to flee the area several blocks away. A car stop ensued and all four occupants of the getaway car were contacted. Property taken from the victim’s car was recovered in the suspect’s car. Two of the passengers were identified by the victim as having been in his car.

When we asked the suspects who claimed the property that we recognized as having been taken from the victim’s car….. Mr. Sergio Moro was kind enough to tell us the victim’s property was his. Mr. Moro is a 22 year old Santa Cruz resident.

The getaway driver was Ms. Tahja Birney. She is a 20 year old Santa Cruz resident

In addition to being the getaway driver, she was found in possession of several ounces of marijuana and prescription muscle relaxers, of which she did not have said prescription.

Two 17 year old male juveniles from Watsonville were also in the car. One of the juveniles was identified as a Norteno gang member and had a warrant for his arrest. The other had a warrant from the Juvenile court and was also wanted for cutting off his monitoring bracelet.

Mr. Moro was booked into jail for (1) Conspiracy to commit a crime, Contributing to the delinquency of minors, and (3) Possession of stolen property. Ms. Birney was booked into jail for (1) Conspiracy to commit a crime, (2) Contributing to the delinquency of minors and (3) Possession of prescription medication without the prescription.

Great work by our alert citizens and great job of getting a good description; helping us do our work....and Great work by Officer Cockrum!

No question about it...Halloween 2014 kept us plenty busy!!! From 8:00 AM on October 31^stthrough 8:00 AM on November 1^st, we handled 400 calls for service. The downtown crowd size was estimated at 15,000+, just slightly less than last year.

The Downtown Deployment reported the following activity

32 Arrests

19 for public intoxication

45 Citations Issued

36 were for Triple Fine violations. Of the Triple Fine citations, 25 were for open containers of alcohol.

1 for mutilation of city trees by a person costumed as “Edward Scissor Hands” who was caught doing some unauthorized trimming of the city trees.

Notable arrests in the downtown were the following:

Case #14S-09037
Two handguns were seized from Watsonville Norteno gang members. Officers contacted the suspected gang members in the parking structure at Cedar and Church Streets. One of the suspects was found to have a loaded .40 caliber semi-automatic pistol in his jacket. The second handgun was found in a subsequent search of the suspect’s car. The second handgun is a .38 caliber revolver. Here is a photo of the guns we seized:

Three suspects were arrested in connection to the firearms:

Maria Lopez-Enisco, 21 years old Watsonville resident

Lucio Martinez, 19 year old Watsonville resident

Bryan Ponciano, 20 year old Watsonville resident

Folks....this was great proactive work by our team preventing a possible tragedy. These guys weren't carry guns because they didn't expect something to happen!!

Case #14S-09038
A 12 year old Watsonville gang affiliate was contacted by officers at Pacific and Church. At 12 years old, he is already on probation and sports a number of gang tattoos. He was searched and found to be hiding a homemade hammer/weapon concealed in his pants. When asked why he had the weapon, he indicated he was fearful of rival gang attacks. A photo of the weapon is attached. The juvenile was arrested and booked into juvenile hall for possession of the weapon and violating his probation terms.

Here is a photo of the weapon we seized from this 12 year old

Case #14S-09033
This case involved a suspect attacking a person dressed as a Fox News reporter. The suspect attacked the victim telling him he “hates Fox News”. The suspect grabbed the victim’s microphone and placed down the front of his pants and proceeded to rub the microphone on his crotch. The suspect then attacked the victim with an aluminum tennis racquet. The victim was not injured and reported the incident to police. The suspect fled as officers approached, but was eventually ran down and caught by pursuing officers. Arrested was

Sean Kory – 29 years old, Santa Cruz resident

Notable Arrests in the rest of the city included:

Case #14S-09064
This case involved a single vehicle DUI collision at Mission St and Miramar. The suspect collided with a city light pole and no parking sign posts. The driver attempted to flee the scene but his car had been disabled. When officers arrived, he attempted to flee and fought with both officers. Both officers sustained injuries from the suspect. One of the injured officers will have to undergo additional medical evaluation before returning to work. Arrested was:

Rafael Cardenas, 22 years old – Santa Cruz Resident. Photo not available at time for release.

Case #14S-09062

A second DUI crash occurred at Bay and High Streets. The suspect collided with a center median and signal light pole. Arriving emergency medical personnel found the suspect sitting on the curb. As they approached to help him, the suspect started throwing punches at the air and moved toward the fire and ambulance personnel. Arriving officers witnessed this and quickly subdued the driver. Arrested was:

Miles Chong, 21 years old Livermore resident. Photo not available at time of release.

Case #14S-09059
A prowler was reported in 2 backyards in the 500 block of King Street. Officers located a 48 year old Scotts Valley man who was found to be extremely intoxicated. The suspect was trying to find his way back to his Scotts Valley home and believed he was in his neighborhood. Officers arrested Greg Vandervoort, 48 years old, Scotts Valley resident for public intoxication. Photo not available at time of release.

That's it folks. Hope you had a safe and fun Halloween! We'll leave you with a photo of that pumpkin lit at night!!!

Mayor Lynn Robinson and County Supervisor Bruce McPherson presided over a combined city/county Veteran’s Day ceremony hosted at City Hall today. The ceremony honored all those who have stood watch over our great nation, and especially those who continued their commitment to public service by working for the city or county in addition to their military service.

The Santa Cruz Police Department and Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office Honor Guard teams participated in the ceremony.

The idea that eventually became known as Veteran’s Day was established on November 11, 1919, the one year anniversary of the end of World War I. The day was originally dubbed Armistice Day, to commemorate the end of the World War I in the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month. The event originally honored all those who served in World War I. In 1954, the day became “Veteran’s Day” honoring all those who served, current and past.

After some date jockeying, the date was returned the original November 11^th date by President Gerald Ford in 1975.

According to my sources at the Defense Department, there are approximately 23 million veterans living in the U.S. and California has one of the highest populations of veterans with just over 2 million.

As a small demonstration of the discipline and precision in our military, check out this Marine Silent Drill Rifle team video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXa39XyP6q8

If you ever get the chance to see this live…don’t miss it.

We honor and thank all those who have served, so that we might enjoy the freedoms afforded us today.

"Name That Thief"Is Back

This time it is a video round, with a couple of still images to help. You have been remarkable in helping us identify our thieves this year. Let's see if we can identify this one!!

On November 10^th, we took a report from a homeowner who had his video camera stolen in the middle of the night. The good news is that the camera captured and stored the thief’s image and he moved in for the take.

The suspect appears on the right hand edge of the screen smoking a cigarette in the middle of the night. He then moves in to snag the camera. The video shows him struggling to remove the camera and eventually he is able to dislodge it from the mounting plate. Our victim wakes up the following morning to find his camera has been taken……but alas, there is video.

Here are a few still images we are able to capture from the video.

Help us identify this thief and make his next image a mugshot!!

It started like many other calls for service of this nature. The dispatcher reports a suspicious person acting out in the 100 block of Walnut Ave. The type of call you can go to a dozen times on any given shift.

When our officer arrived, he encounters Mr. Chase Desjardin acting out and clearly under the influence of something. Mr. Desjardin is 21 years old and hails from Scotts Valley.

The challenge for the officer arriving on scene is to figure out what the substance is and try to safely take him into custody. As backup arrives, it is time to take action. In this kind of case, the situation can go sideways at any juncture. The problem is, when suspects are under the influence, normal techniques don’t work, and they can display unusual strength.

In this case, Mr. Desjardin decided to fight with the officers because, as he reported, he was “seeing ghosts”. It took several officers to finally get Mr. Desjardin safely into custody and into the back of the police car.

In the course of the fight a 4 year veteran officer was injured. Initially, it was thought his ankle was broken, but the latest x-rays are telling us it is a serious sprain. He will be off work while he recovers from the injury.

Mr. Desjardin was taken to the hospital for observation while he detoxed from whatever he was on. He was eventually booked into jail.

So far this year, we have had 187 cases of suspects Resisting Arrest. While those cases usually result in some bumps and bruises to the officers, this year we have had 15 officers get medical treatment and miss work because of injuries received from a suspect fighting with them. Those injuries range from concussions, sprains, tears, and breaks to stab wounds.

Just goes to show; no call is ever routine! Here is wishing our officer a speedy recovery.

This morning the Sentinel published an article indicating they had email and Twitter conversations with the suspect in the threats at Santa Cruz High School. A link to the article is here.

http://goo.gl/ImW9NS

Although the person communicating with the Sentinel does have some knowledge about the original email, we cannot confirm or validate that they are conversing with the actual suspect. We are extremely cognizant of the potential for copycats or friends of the actual suspect trying to distract the investigation.

If this person is actually the suspect, they can end the public concern by simply surrendering to the police department allowing us to resolve the case and relieve community concerns.

Additionally, we cannot confirm whether or not the actual suspect is a student. Therefore, we cannot confirm the claim that they attended school yesterday. If they did attend school, we are confident that we had sufficient officers and a plan to monitor and respond to any threats on or around the campus.

There have not been any additional threats made. The police department has been continuously working on this case to determine the origin and identity of the threat. We continue to monitor the threat potential to the students and staff.

If, at any point, we believe there is a legitimate threat of violence, we will consult with school administration and take all necessary steps to secure the campus. We will not gamble with the safety and security of our school campuses.

Last night, our detectives detained and interviewed two persons of interest in conjunction with both this case, as well as a separate unrelated case. We were prepared to serve a search warrant at their home. The persons were cooperative and allowed the seizure of computer equipment for examination. They also shared information about potential suspects and people with the technological savvy to be involved with this threat.

Detectives are continuing to use software tools to identify a suspect, as well as looking into possible suspects based on tips and information. This is an active and dynamic investigation with information changing hour by hour.

When we have solid and reliable information to report, we will update the community.

Our team of detectives worked through the weekend sorting through forensic information. We also continue to work and consult with our Federal colleagues. There is no new information to publicly report, but we are pleased with the progress of the investigation.

Meanwhile, we continue to have additional security measures in place at Santa Cruz High School as well as our other city schools. We are confident in our security assessment and we remain committed to ensuring a safe campus environment.

An unidentified person claiming to be responsible for the threat, again contacted the Sentinel newspaper today (Monday November 24th). They claimed to be responsible for the arson of vehicles in the Aptos area that occurred overnight. In coordination with the Sheriff's Office, we were unable to confirm any of the crime scene details provided by the person, and deemed the claim of responsibility was not credible.

In spite of the lack of credibility in the claim, we consulted with the school district and without hesitation; they have decided to provide additional overnight security to a number of campuses, including Santa Cruz High School. The additional security will stay in place at least through this week, even while school is not in session.

Thank you all for staying engaged as well as your support and patience. The security of our students and staff is a top priority for us. We will update the community with any breaking information on the status of the investigation.

It is time for our pre-holiday edition of Name That Thief. In this round, you will have two opportunities to…. say it with me…….Name – That – Thief.

Case #14S-09631

In our first case, we see how quickly a suspect can get into an unlocked car and steal things….even with good lighting and video cameras. In giving advice to the community, time and again we remind everyone to (1) Lock Your Doors, (2) Don’t Leave Valuables Out In The Open. Here is video #1

This suspect enters this unlocked truck and takes an iPod and pocket knife in just about 2 minutes time. The theft happened on Thursday November 20^th around 5:30 PM in the 100 block of Mission Street.

In video #2 our suspect heads out of the truck, and you can see his “lookout” wingman enter the picture momentarily. Here is video #2:

Both look to be white males in their late teens or early twenties. If you recognize them, send us a tip using the info at the bottom of this post.

Case #14S-09598

In our second case, this suspect steals a couple of pairs of socks from CVS by stuffing them down the front of his pants and walking out the store. This event happened on Wednesday November 19th around 8:50 PM. Here is our suspect.... pre-sock stuffing

With the holidays looming, this kind of behavior is sure to get our suspects on the legendary “Naughty List. Help us catch them to increase your chances of being on the “Nice List”.

Have a great Thanksgiving!!!

Two years ago the Santa Cruz Police Departments K9 Unit began a fundraising campaign for its Police K9 Unit. The fundraising effort was based on the gracious donation to the K9 Unit by local Veterinarian, Dr. David Shuman of the Westside Animal Hospital in Santa Cruz. These tax deductible proceeds from the purchases go towards:

Funding of replacement K9′s
Supplemental funding of community education
Purchasing protective K9 equipment
Funding specialized K9 schools
Funding of medical expenses for retired K9’s
Defraying K9 burial or cremation costs
Health Insurance for current K9’s

Recently the Santa Cruz Sunrise Rotary graciously donated $500.00 to the Santa Cruz Police K9 Fund.

With the holiday season around the corner, the Santa Cruz Police Department's K9 Unit wants to remind community members the $10.00 purchase of these stuffed toys are tax deductible and available for purchase at the front desk of the Santa Cruz Police Department, or you can request one from Lt. Warren Barry. If there are any questions please feel free to contact Lt. Warren Barry (wbarry@cityofsantacruz.com).

Your weekend roundup features two cases you might find interesting. Here goes:

Case #1

This case happened around 2:00 AM early Sunday morning. This case involves a bit of a car chase, between our suspect and victim. In the end, a crash occurs right across the street from the police department entrance.

This all started when our victim was sitting is his car parked in the double-decker city lot at Church St and Cedar St. At some point, our suspect arrives at his car and finds his cell phone is missing. For reasons unknown, he believed or victim is the thief and decided to confront him. The suspect confronts the victim, eventually punching him. Our victim decides he has had enough of this and drives away.

This is where our suspect compound his already bad decisions…..he gives chase to the victim. The victim realizes he is being followed by the suspect and the chase is on through town. They drove through downtown and out along Mission Street before the victim calls 9-1-1to report he is being chased.

Our dispatcher instructs him to drive to the police department. Or victim pulls into the front lot of the police department with the suspect still in pursuit. The victim pulls through the front lot and back out onto the road. Unfortunately, he is a little heavy on the accelerator and loses control of his car while pulling out onto Center Street. This resulted in him colliding with a parked car, as our officers are arriving.

As we sort this out, we locate the suspect, who is adamant the victim took his cell phone. Guess what?…..no cell phone found with the victim.

What we did find is that our suspect (the accuser) was Driving Under the Influence. Additionally, he had a suspended driver’s license. Booked into jail for DUI, and Driving on a Suspended License, and violating his already existing Probation…. was

Jesus Gonzales Ortiz – 24 years old, Freedom, CA resident

Case #2

This case happened in the 100 block of Coloma Ave early Monday morning December 8^th. At about 3:00 AM our victim was asleep on his living room couch when down the hallway he hears noises inside the house. Realizing it was not the night for St. Nick to be visiting, he looks into the mater. Scurrying down the hallway and into his bedroom is our suspect who had let herself in through the front door.

Our victim finds the suspect gathering things from his home. Our victim confronts the suspect, who begins to yell and carry on. Our victim forces the suspect from the home, but not before she swipes one last Pop-Tart for road. She then proceeds to pound on the windows of the home, yelling and cursing at the victim. In the course of all this, the suspect managed to break one of the windows in the home. Eventually, our suspect leaves and the victim calls 9-1-1.

When our intrepid officers arrive they begin to process things and find that the suspect dropped her jail booking paperwork in the home. Seems our suspect had just been released from jail on a previous arrest by Watsonville PD just the day prior.

The suspect was identified as:

Jennie Roberts – 52 years old, Santa Cruz transient

Ms. Roberts was located by our officers a few minutes later in the 200 block of Grant Street. Neighbors called when she was once again, pounding on doors and yelling at 3:00 AM. Ms. Roberts was booked into jail (AGAIN!!), for Burglary, Vandalism, and a violation of her already existing Probation.

That’s it for your weekend roundup. Stay safe through the Holiday Season!

It is nice to have rain coming our way. According to the latest forecasts, we have a doozy of storm headed our way. This means lots of rain with high winds and long hours for your emergency responders.

Since it has been awhile since we have been walloped by a storm like this, here are a few tips.

Rule #1…Slow Down!! Sudden or prolonged heavy rains can mean flooded roadways. Visibility is reduced in rain, even with good windshield wipers. If your windshield wipers are not doing the job, get them replaced before the storm hits.

Sudden hydroplaning can occur as well as lane-drifting from standing water or waters rushing across the roadway. Don’t panic; don’t slam on the brakes and don’t over-steer. Just lightly steer through while taking your foot off the accelerator. Be aware that driving through large puddles can swamp the engine compartment causing belts to slip and a short-term loss of power steering.

Watch for downed trees and/or utility lines. If you see downed lines, stay in your car….I repeat, do not get out of your car. Call 9-1-1 and get help on the way to assess the problem.

Rule #2….Be prepared for power outages. Fuel up you cars, and/or generators have flashlights with good batteries and don’t leave candles burning unattended.

For useful information on power outages, check out this link from PG&E here:

http://www.pge.com/en/safety/naturaldisaster/stormsoutagessafety/index.page

If flooding starts to occur, you may find that you need sand bags. The City will only distribute sandbags if an actual emergency is declared. For info on that, check out our Public Works site here:

http://www.cityofsantacruz.com/departments/public-works/emergency-storm-preparation/sandbag-distribution

And for tips on how to fill and stack those sandbags, check out this info:

http://www.cityofsantacruz.com/departments/public-works/emergency-storm-preparation/filing-stacking-and-placing-sandbags

Hopefully there are more storms to fill our streams and reservoirs. For now, batten down the hatches and stay safe.

Here is the latest on the Santa Cruz High School threats case from November 18th.

Our investigators continue to work a number of strategies and leads. We had email contact with the person claiming to be the original e-mailer as late as last week. Nothing new has come from these contacts. The person continues to make promises of surrendering, or turning in the “real” person responsible for the original threat.

Meanwhile, our detectives continue to work the forensic computer end of the information. Additionally, we are collaborating with two other out-of-state police departments who are dealing with similar threats.

We constantly assess the information and the threat level to the school. We will immediately update the community if anything changes, or we get any new breaks in the case. We have continued to increase our presence around the school campuses with our patrol staff.

Folks.....if you don't believe in Holiday Miracles....This story might change your mind.

Our colleagues at the Fire Department deserve some pretty big kudos for their quick action on this one!

This morning (December 11, 2014), at approximately 8:20 AM, emergency personnel including police, fire and paramedics responded to Gateway School at 126 Eucalyptus Ave on a report of a downed tree with a student trapped underneath. The incident occurred as the Santa Cruz area was experiencing a significant weather storm with unusually high winds.

First Responders arriving at the scene found a large Cypress tree had snapped and fell onto the playground area. The trunk of the tree was approx. 60-80 feet in length and approximately 2 feet in diameter.

There were a number of children in the area waiting for the school day to begin. The downed tree fell across a picnic table where students were congregating. When the tree fell, it trapped an 11 year old male student underneath, pinning his arm and shoulder.

Santa Cruz Fire Department crews acted quickly, using heavy equipment to stabilize the trunk of the tree. Once stabilized, fire crews used chainsaws to cut the tree away from the trapped child. The injured child was transported to Dominican Hospital. Miraculously, the child’s injuries were not life threatening. He is expected to be treated and released from the hospital.

Another 11 year old female was also hit by branches when the tree fell. She was treated at the scene for minor injuries and released to her parents.

Gateway School officials collaborated in a seamless response with emergency personnel. School officials closed the school for the remainder of the day and reunited all of the students with parents.

It is an absolute miracle that these students did not sustain more serious injuries and that no other students were injured as well.

It is time to get up on your feet....do "The Wave" and tip your cap to Detective Brian Warren. His excellent work identified and tracked down this serial tagging suspect.

Derek Murphy - 21 years old from Petaluma, CA

Brian and his team followed up on the tagging cases that were discovered on June 10, 2014. The suspect vandalized property with the tag “BERG” or “GREB”. His tags damaged city parks, walls, fences and two police vehicles parked at the city’s corporation yard for repairs. Here are a few photos:

During the investigation, Brian shared information with Northern California agencies seeking information on similar tags. This information led to contact with a task force investigator from San Francisco Police Department who shared a possible lead. Brian and his partners continued follow-up, which eventually led to working with investigators from the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office and the Napa County Sheriff’s Office. Through this collaboration, we were able to identify Mr. Murphy and a second suspect as responsible for the tagging here in Santa Cruz. The identity of the second suspect is being withheld pending a warrant request. We are working on locating him.

On December 15, 2014, a team of SCPD detectives served a search warrant at a home in Petaluma and a home in American Canyon. Mr. Murphy was contacted at the Petaluma home and arrested. During the searches, detectives seized a portfolio of taggings, sketch books, canvas art, photos, computers and digital cameras. Images retrieved from these devices show multiple taggings on public and private property in several locations. The evidence painted the suspect into a corner, and into the back of our patrol car.

Detectives believe our suspect may be responsible for vandalizing property with his tags throughout the west coast from Bakersfield to Seattle. We are collaborating with those agencies to assist in their cases. While driving to the search warrant locations from Santa Cruz, SCPD detectives noticed numerous tags from our suspect along Bay Area freeways to include Highways 101, 880, and 37.

In addition to any criminal penalties, SCPD will be seeking restitution for the damaged property. Mr. Murphy has a history of arrest in San Francisco that includes vandalism and resisting arrest. Mr. Murphy was booked into Santa Cruz County Jail for felony Vandalism charges.

It all started back on December 20^th with a “routine” report of a stolen bicycle. What Officer Brent Northrup learned was that this case was anything but “routine”.

The victim in this case was a Branciforte Middle School student, Justa Ferguson. She earned the bicycle from the school for her good grades. A thief had taken her hard-earned bike from the family’s porch. Just like that….her reward was stolen from her.

Officer Northrup circulated a picture of the stolen bicycle to our entire department, in hopes someone might see the bike. The next day at their shift briefing, the team talked about this theft. During that briefing…..the mission was hatched.

During their briefing, the team discussed their outrage. That’s when Officer Carly Cross put that outrage into action and formed a plan with Officer Wendy Ramm and Brent Northrup. The team was going to surprise Justa with a new bicycle and deliver it Christmas morning.

Carly reached out to Mom to make the arrangements. Over their days off, the plan was put into full swing.

Officer Northrup drove to the Walmart in Sacramento on the promise they had the bike. They didn’t; but not to be deterred, Brent found the bike at the West Sacramento store.

Christmas morning, the entire dayshift team saddled up and headed out.

The family was treated to a full police parade welcome complete with lights……and the surprise of a new bike complete with a bike light, bell and lock for Justa.


Officer Northrup makes one last check of the bike

The excitement builds

Merry Christmas Justa

The team also brought gifts for her two younger brothers. The Police Officer’s Association got wind of this plan, and sponsored all the costs for the bike, supplies and gifts for the family.

The team was so excited to get to do this. They commented on how it was great to be a part of something so special for this family.

We, of course, are so proud that we have officers that bring this level of care to the community in addition to the job they do every day. Remember these great officers as they are working through Christmas day away from their families to keep our community safe.

Merry Christmas to Justa and her family

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