Tilden Ball (L) and Elizabeth Escamilla (R)
SANTA CRUZ — At around 10 o’clock on Friday morning, a citizen notified police of a suspected drug deal taking place.
He noticed a suspicious vehicle parked in the 200 block of 1st Street. A woman in scrubs approached the vehicle and made a “hand-to-hand” transaction with the person inside, then walked away.
Responding officers made contact with the suspect in the vehicle, 31-year-old Tilden Ball, who claimed that it belonged to his friend and that he was waiting for her to return. A background check revealed that Ball had a parole hold warrant for his arrest, and a subsequent search revealed multiple knives and methamphetamine in his possession.
A search of the car also turned up hundreds of syringes, drug paraphernalia, checks, credit cards, gift cards, and other stolen or forged property, along with an embossing machine that can be used to alter and manufacture credit cards.
30-year-old Elizabeth Escamilla, a woman in scrubs matching the description given by the 9-1-1 caller, returned and identified the Miata as her vehicle.
A number of the items in the car were soon tied to both Ball and Escamilla.
Both suspects were arrested on multiple charges including parole hold, forgery, fraud, possession of stolen property, possession of narcotics paraphernalia, and conspiracy to commit a crime. The vehicle has been impounded.
