Crime & Safety
Predictive Policing Stops a Suspect in the Act
A Santa Cruz police officer checking a spot recommended by the department's predictive policing computer found a man he suspected was in the act of burglarizing a car.
A man ran from a Santa Cruz patrol officer at 12:20 a.m. Tuesday after the officer spotted him getting out of the passenger seat of a parked car on the 100 block of Park Avenue.
The man saw the officer and ran south on Park Ave and then west on Hiawatha Ave.
The officer gave chase as the man ran west across East Cliff Drive toward the East Cliff train trestle.
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The officer caught up with the subject, identified as Joseph Watts, on the western side of the trestle. Watts had a felony warrant for his arrest. He was booked into County Jail on the felony warrant.
The officer went back to the vehicle and found the door was unlocked. The registered owner said nothing appeared missing from the vehicle.
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