Suspect had eluded Police earlier last week
CAPITOLA—The Santa Cruz County Anti-Crime Gang Taskforce have finally got their man. They arrested fugitive 24-year-old transient Paul Garcia after a brief chase through the Capitola Mall shopping center.
On Saturday, members of the Santa Cruz Anti-Crime Taskforce were on patrol in the 1800 block of 41st avenue in Capitola when they spotting Garcia. He was seated in a vehicle. When a member of the taskforce tried to make contact with him this time, Garcia attempted to elude them once again by running through the Capitola Mall on 41st Avenue. Garcia was wanted by the taskforce for fleeing from them earlier in the week.
“He was discarding items as he ran through the shopping Mall.” Santa Cruz County Gang Taskforce Supervisor Sergeant Stefan Fish wrote in a press release, “He eventually threw controlled substances on a rooftop of a business in the Mall.”
Members of the Santa Cruz County Anti-Crime Taskforce set up a perimeter around the shopping Mall and Garcia was eventually taken into custody without further incident.
Officers located approximately one half a once of heroin and two ounces of methamphetamine from the rooftop of the business. They also found three to four thousand dollars in cash on the roof.
Garcia was arrested and booked into the Santa Cruz County Jail on the outstanding warrant and charges of possession of a controlled substance for sale, destruction of evidence and resisting arrest. His bail has been set at 10,000.00 dollars. Garcia is also suspected to be an active gang participant.
