Watsonville Man Arrested in Stabbing

Bay City News Service

An investigation into a stabbing in Watsonville on Thursday led to an arrest and the controlled detonation of a hand grenade that was found in a nearby storage unit in an unrelated incident, police said.

Officers were dispatched to 1726 Freedom Blvd. at about 4:20 p.m. on a report of two males fighting, but both people had driven away in separate cars by the time police arrived.

Shortly afterward, police were sent to Watsonville Community Hospital about a reported stabbing victim in the emergency room.

The male victim was suffering from life-threatening wounds and was transported by helicopter to another trauma center, where his life was saved, police said.

The investigation into the stabbing eventually led to the arrest of Nathan Navarro, 23, of Watsonville, on suspicion of attempted murder, police said.

Investigators determined that a fight had occurred between Navarro and the 23-year-old victim, who was stabbed three times in the stomach, police said.

Navarro, who was located by officers at about 2:15 a.m. today in his residence in the 100 block of Roberta Drive, was booked into the Santa Cruz County Jail, police said.

While officers were investigating at the site of the stabbing in the 1700 block of Freedom Boulevard, a man emerged from a U-Haul truck to report finding a live hand grenade in a storage unit among items left by his deceased relatives, police said.

Police contacted the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office bomb squad and the grenade was taken to a landfill and safely detonated.

The discovery and detonation of the explosive were unrelated to the stabbing, police said.

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