Law enforcement in Santa Cruz County responded to dozens of July 4-related calls
The 4th of July weekend kept law enforcement busy throughout Santa Cruz County.
On July 4, Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office, in partnership with Santa Cruz County Probation, State Parks Rangers, the California Highway Patrol and CalFire, provided additional personnel throughout the county – specifically on and around the county and state beaches.
Their efforts resulted in:
• 530 calls for service
• 4 Felony arrests • 4 Misdemeanor arrests • 10 Vehicle Code citations
• 3 county code violations • 40 pounds fireworks seized
In the city of Santa Cruz, police said they saw one of the largest crowds in recent history. All parking lots and off-site parking lots were completely full by noon Friday and traffic was still gridlocked coming into town as late as 8 p.m. In the city’s Seabright neighborhood, illegal fireworks set a tree ablaze, which in turn threatened power lines and destroyed three cars.
Officers responded to about 500 calls for service in 24 hours. That included:
103 calls for illegal fireworks
75 pounds of fireworks confiscated
4 felony arrests
18 misdemeanor arrests
64 citations – 28 of which include the triple fine enhancement
In the city of Watsonville, police issued some $26,000 in fines for possession or use of illegal fireworks. They received 72 calls for service pertaining to illegal fireworks and issued 30 administrative citations.
Statistics from the city of Capitola weren’t immediately available.
