Oscar Rodriguez, a 71-year-old Santa Cruz man who has worked with children at the Calvary Chapel church in Aptos, has been arrested and charged with sexual abuse of a minor seven years ago.
Crime
Posted inLatest News
Santa Cruz reports Halloween crowd of 15,000, fewer arrests
The Santa Cruz Police Department on Friday estimated this year’s downtown Halloween crowd size to be 15,000 at its peak on Thursday night. There were no “significant incidents of violence” this year, the department said in a release, and arrests were down compared to last year.
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Inspector seeks ‘full transparency’ on Santa Cruz County Jail deaths
The first report of an Office of Inspector General established to hold the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office accountable is calling for “full transparency” on the in-custody deaths of three men and sexual assault of another, while recommending an overhaul of use-of-force policies and the way the department investigates such incidents.
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Inspector General: Reform Santa Cruz sheriff force, body camera policies
The first annual report of the Office of Inspector General calls on the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office to require deputies turn body cameras on for routine calls and recommends an overhaul of how the department handles use of force incidents and investigations into them.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
No on Prop 36: It is misleading and would take us back to mass incarceration
California’s Proposition 36 would undo all the good diversion and anti-recidivism work that has happened in communities since 2014’s Prop 47, argue community activists Angelee Dion, Julia Gratton and Pam Sexton. It would, they say, cost taxpayers tens of billions of dollars for prisons, court costs and local jails and slash millions from anti-recidivism, school-based prevention programs and services for survivors of crime. They urge a no vote.
Posted inLatest News
Defendants in murder of Tushar Atre will be tried separately
The four men charged in the 2019 kidnapping and murder of tech and cannabis entrepreneur Tushar Atre in Pleasure Point will each have their own trial after a Santa Cruz County Superior Court judge agreed that it was the best way to give each defendant a fair trial. The men are due back in court on Dec. 10.
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Lengyel murder trial ends with fiery barbs between defense, prosecutors
The murder trial of Theobald Lengyel ended on Wednesday, with jurors now deliberating whether the former musician is guilty of first-degree murder or a lesser charge in the death of his girlfriend, Capitola resident Alice “Alix” Herrmann. The defense argued that Lengyel was provoked, while prosecutors alleged premeditation.
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Jury finds Theobald Lengyel guilty of murdering Alice Herrmann
Theobald Lengyel was found guilty of murder in the first degree by a Santa Cruz County jury on Thursday, after a weekslong trial in which prosecutors depicted the former Mr. Bungle alternative rock musician as someone with a pattern of abusive and violent behavior that culminated with the murder of his girlfriend, Capitola resident Alice “Alix” Herrmann, in December 2023.
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Watsonville man sees drug, sex charges nearly double; incidents first reported at schools
The number of charges against Luis Alberto Salas, 35, accused of using social media to offer children drugs in exchange for sex, has jumped from 24 to 42 after the Santa Cruz County District Attorney’s Office filed an amended complaint against the Watsonville man on Monday. According to court filings, police first started investigating the case after students reported it to local schools.
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Closing arguments begin in Theo Lengyel murder trial
Prosecutors in the murder trial of Theo Lengyel began their closing argument, aiming to paint the defendant, a former rock musician charged with killing Alice “Alyx” Herrmann of Capitola last year, as having a history of violence and aggressive behavior, specifically toward his romantic partners. They hope to convince the jury to convict Lengyel of first-degree murder, and pointed to a dramatic recording of an argument between Lengyel and Herrmann that was played during the trial that appears to capture Herrmann’s death.