Crime, Fire & Courts

A tow operator cleans up the area where a driver smashed into a utility pole Friday morning on Airport Boulevard at Roache Road. Watsonville Police said the male driver was traveling southbound on Freedom Boulevard just before 9am when he lost control of his...

Editor's note: This story was updated at 10:50am on April 10 with new information. Watsonville officials said Friday that a proposed plan to house a designated sexually violent predator at a Main Street motel has been halted after the property owner withdrew, citing community opposition. The...

Santa Cruz Police are investigating a report of shots fired Monday evening in a parking lot near the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Police said officers responded to reports of shots fired on the evening of Aug. 3. No one was struck by the gunfire,...

​​Law enforcement officials in Monterey County rescued a possibly suicidal man who was threatening to jump off the  San Miguel Canyon Road overpass on Sunday. According to the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to assist the California Highway Patrol for a report of a...

Capitola police are asking for the public’s help after a Soquel man was arrested in connection with an investigation involving children at Capitola Beach. Derek Martin Johnson, 63, was arrested June 6 after a concerned citizen reported that a man appeared to be taking photographs...

A Watsonville man was arrested Tuesday after he was found in a hotel with a 15-year-old girl who had been reported missing out of Fresno. Darwin Linares, 24, was booked into Santa Cruz County Jail on charges of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor. He was...

Public defenders in Santa Cruz County will join colleagues across California and the nation April 23 in a coordinated protest highlighting what they describe as chronic underfunding and unmanageable caseloads that threaten defendants’ constitutional right to counsel. Chief Public Defender Heather Rogers is urging community...

A man died when a home caught fire late Monday night in Capitola Village.  Central Fire crews responded to the two-alarm fire at 9:50pm at 204 Monterey Ave. to flames lashing out the side of a building from the first and second floors of a...

Two Santa Cruz County supervisors and several local community organizations have joined a regional coalition of elected officials and advocates reaffirming support for immigrant communities as the Bay Area prepares to host matches during the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The joint statement, released Monday, was...

A man was arrested Tuesday for driving a stolen car to the Monterey County Superior Courthouse in Salinas, where he was scheduled to appear for a previous auto theft case. Ricardo Otero, 41, was charged with driving a stolen vehicle, committing a felony while on...