Watsonville Police believe string of armed robberies are connected

A string of armed robberies and an attempted carjacking all happened within just hours of each other in Watsonville, and police believe they could all be connected.

Miguel Zarate sells oranges along hall road and said hearing about a fellow vendor being robbed at gun point just up the road in Watsonville, worries him.

“I don’t know if I’d run or give the money because I’m not going to lose my life for $100 or for $50,” said Zarate.

The victim in Sunday’s robbery was the first of what police believe to be a crime spree that ran throughout the city.

Sgt. Erik Montalbo said 30 minutes after that robbery, an attempted car jacking happened off Silver Leaf Drive, “Ultimately the victim did not give the keys up to the suspect for her vehicle and the suspect ended up fleeing the scene.”

Ten minutes later reports came in about a stolen car off Herman Avenue.

Police said that same car hit a parked car on Santa Clara and Marin Streets but that didn’t deter the suspect from heading to his next robbery.

The suspect walked through Little Caesars wielding a gun at the cashier and that’s when he demanded money.

Little Caesars said Sunday was the second time they were robbed this year. Karen Silva works there and said at the time of the robbery she was in back.

“We were all panicked you know, we were all scared. The girl in the front was crying and she was telling him, “Don’t shoot me, don’t shoot me.” He just kept saying “Give me the money! I’m not going to do anything. Just give me the money!” said Silva.

An hour later a call comes in for another hit-and-run on Hill Avenue. Twenty minutes later officers track down the car on Jasmine Lane and the chase was on.

The suspect was caught after he crashed into a storage unit behind Safeway.

Police aren’t stopping at one suspect, they believe he had help. Meanwhile, co-workers at the Little Caesars hope they catch whoever was behind this string of terror across the city.

“I thought he was going to kill me,” said one employee.

The investigation is still open and Watsonville police have already been able to tie the 17-year-old to two of the cases and are looking into the possibility that he was linked to the other cases.