One of The Juveniles Was Armed With A Rifle
WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville Police Department locked down Freedom Elementary School on Friday as they responded to a call of an armed robbery. They arrested four juvenile suspects for the robbery after an extensive search of the area.
On Friday, April 10 at about 2:18 pm, Officers with the Watsonville Police Department went to the Freedom Elementary School because a victim reported being robbed of an iPhone and his bicycle nearby. He told police that the suspects used a knife during the robbery. The victim told police that he last saw the suspects fleeing towards Loma Prieta Avenue with his bike. They had managed to drop the victim’s stolen iPhone while fleeing the area. Police searched the area, but were unable to come up with any suspects.
At about 4 pm, the victim called police because he spotted the same guys that robbed him earlier. He told police that they were at an apartment complex at the end of Landis Avenue in Freedom, the community just northwest of Watsonville.
The juveniles used a saw-off rifle to scare away the victim looking for his bike. The gun was booked into evidence in the case.
The victim told police that he believed that they still had his bike, so he had confronted them. When he did, one of the juveniles in the group retrieved a pistol-gripped sawed-off rifle from the bushes that border Struve Slough near the end of Landis Avenue.
The suspect then told the victim that he was going to shoot him if he did not leave. The victim fled the area and called police. Officers from multiple agencies – the Watsonville Police, the Santa Cruz County Anti Crime Team, and deputies from the Santa County Sheriff’s Office – responded to the area a set up a perimeter.
Three suspects fled when police spotted them, but they were contained within the perimeter and were successfully apprehended. One of the suspects was armed with the rifle, which he tried to discard as he ran.
The rifle was found to be loaded. All arrested were transported to the Santa Cruz County Juvenile Hall and booked on charges of conspiracy, robbery, brandishing a firearm, possession of a firearm with a defaced serial number on school grounds, resisting arrest, being a juvenile in possession of a firearm, and a gang enhancement.
