Arrested:
John Thomas, Jr., 39
years old – Santa Cruz Resident
Brandon Thomas, 21
years old – Santa Cruz Resident
A father
and son are in custody in Santa Cruz County Jail for crimes of violence and
possession of a firearm charges after an investigation into a Carjacking and
Attempted Murder.
On
Wednesday December 18, 2013, Santa Cruz Police arrested John Thomas, Jr. (39 years old) in connection with an Attempted
Carjacking and Attempted Homicide in the 100 block of Bixby Street.
At
approximately 6:50 PM officers responded to a report of an attempted carjacking
in the 100 block of Bixby Street.
Officers contacted the victims, a 46 year old man and 3 members of his
family (wife and 2 children) from Live Oak.
The victim family was delivering holiday tamales to their son’s teacher
and parked in the 100 block of Bixby Street.
While the family was parked, suspect John Thomas approached the car and
demanded entry.
Thomas was
armed with a revolver handgun and pointed it at the occupants of the car. At
one point he pounded on the window with the butt of the handgun attempting to
gain entry. The woman was able to grab
her 3 month old baby and flee from the car, while the male victim was
confronted by Mr. Thomas.
During the
confrontation, suspect Thomas actually pointed the handgun at the victim’s
chest and pulled the trigger several times.
Detectives later recovered the discarded firearm and learned Mr. Thomas
actually had the wrong ammunition loaded.
Mr. Thomas had .380 caliber ammunition intended for a semi-automatic
handgun, loaded into a .38 caliber revolver.
Because of this, thankfully,
the firing pin did not strike bullet primer to fire the gun.
A
description of suspect John Thomas, Jr.
was broadcast and he was located by other responding officers in the 300 block
of Ocean St. He was safely taken into custody and positively identified as the
suspect. Detectives canvassed the area
and found Mr. Thomas’ discarded handgun also in the 300 block of Ocean
Street.
While
investigating this case, officers learned of a second case, where Mr. Thomas
pointed his handgun at the occupants of a passing car and attempted to get the
driver to stop.
John Thomas, Jr. is currently on parole for violent
crimes in Santa Cruz. His arrest record
dates back to 1992 for various crimes of violence, including crimes of violence
while in prison. John Thomas, Jr. is a validated prison gang member. His history since release from prison includes
several arrests for violating his terms of parole.
John Thomas, Jr. was booked into Santa Cruz County
Jail on charges including, (1) Carjacking, (2) Attempted Homicide, (3) Felon in
Possession of a Firearm, and (4) Violation of Parole.
On
Thursday December 19th, Detectives served a search warrant at Mr.
Thomas’ residence in the 300 block of Soquel Ave. In the course of serving that search warrant,
Mr. Thomas’ son, 21 year old Brandon Thomas approached the home and
confronted officers. Brandon Thomas was detained and
searched where he was found to be in possession of a loaded 9mm handgun. Brandon Thomas is identified as a Norteno
gang member affiliating with Westside Nortenos in Santa Cruz.
Brandon Thomas was booked into Santa Cruz County
Jail for being in possession of a loaded firearm as well as enhancements for
participation in a criminal street gang.
Detectives obtained a bail increase to $100,000.
