Who's Cooler Than a Slurpee on a Hot Summer Day

 We are teaming up with our local 7–Eleven Stores® for “Operation Chill”.  This program promotes positive interactions and reinforce good behavior with the kids in our community during a non-enforcement contacts.    

Here’s How it Works: 

Courtesy of 7–Eleven, officers are hitting the streets with “Operation Chill” coupons.  When officers observe kids exhibiting good behavior, they can issue an “Operation Chill” coupon.  The coupons are good for a FREE small Slurpee® drink at any one of the four 7–Eleven Stores in the City of Santa Cruz.

Special thanks to each of these stores for participating in the program.  The locations are:

367 Ocean Street

218 Cardiff Place

602 Laurel Street

2429 Mission Street

Examples of behavior that will get a coupon are wearing safety helmets, observing traffic safety rules, good citizenship and good deeds, being “brave” after a traffic collision or other emergency event, etc. 

The officers enjoy having something positive to reward the kids, and the kids are as excited as this photo of Sergeant Jones on the cover of the Slurpee machine box when he was a kid.  

Coincidence.....we think not!!

For all you adults who are thinking about creative ways to pose as a kid to get your hands on one of these......just know, we're wise to your disguise!!

Since its inception in 1995, Operation Chill has allowed police departments to issue more than 12.5 million coupons, or “tickets” to kids in communities throughout the country.  That's a serious amount of Alienade and Berry Citrus Slam, or Mountain Dew Blue Shock!!!!  

The program has helped promote positive relationships while reinforcing good behavior and safety habits. 

The program will last for as long as the coupons do.  The coupons expire December 31, 2014.    

Great Patrol Work Takes a Stolen Gun Off The Street and Puts a Suspect In Jail

Our Officer was “Johnny On The Spot” early Wednesday morning as he was on patrol in the Downtown. 

Don’t let this photo fool you, Officer Cathrein (pronounced Kah-Train) has cat-like reflexes and Ninja skills!

Those skills resulted in the arrest of 20 year old Joshua Tomasian of Milpitas for possession of a loaded and stolen handgun, possession of cocaine, and drug paraphernalia. 

At about 1:30 in the morning, Officer Cathrein was driving south on Front Street near Soquel when the sounds of an argument caught his attention.  As he contacts one of the involved parties in a parking lot, he quickly realizes this is more than just a disagreement among gentlemen! 

The victim tells Officer Cathrein that three suspects confronted him and one of them brandished a handgun.  As Officer Cathrein is getting this information, the suspects are trying to flee in their car.

Not to be deterred, Officer Catherein gives chase and stops the car near Riverside and Broadway.    Since there was the possibility of weapons, we conducted a high-risk style car stop.  This is serious business, where we shut down traffic and the occupants of the getaway car are brought out at gunpoint. 

Inside the car was a loaded Sig Sauer .380 caliber handgun.  

Mr. Tomasian was identified as the suspect who brandished the handgun during the confrontation.  He was also found with cocaine in his possession. 

According to our suspect, he and his other two friends were here in Santa Cruz to visit friends and decided to take a drive to try and buy marijuana.  He and the victim couldn’t agree on how the sale would go down.  Somewhere in there, Mr. Tomasian decided it was a good idea to brandish his stolen handgun.  Of course, our victim knows nothing about a marijuana transaction, and he himself has a storied history of contact with our patrol staff.   

Turns out the gun was reported stolen out of Sunnyvale two weeks ago.  Mr Tomasian claimed he bought the gun on the streets of San Jose from some guy named “Paco”……Really???.....“Paco”.    

The two other car occupants were a 27 year-old from Fremont and an 18 year-old from San Jose.  There was nothing to charge them with, so they were questioned and released.  

Bottom Line….Outstanding work by Officer Cathrein and the rest of his patrol team!!!

Big Donation to Help Local Kids From Krassow Foundation

Santa Cruz Police PRIDE Program and BASTA Receive $25,000 Donation from Randy and Janet Krassow, Owners of Santa Cruz Memorial 

 Randy and Janet Krassow are just two of the nicest "coolest" people you would ever want to meet.   If you were drafting a team of people to build your community, they are definite first round picks.  

This generous $25,000 donation comes from the foundation that Mr. Randy Krassow created with Santa Cruz Attorney, Larry Brenner.  Their private foundation was created to provide funding to local youth programs and organizations as well as youth scholarships.   

Mrs. Janet Krassow, is no stranger to reaching out to help kids in our community!  She was the Executive Director of the Santa Cruz Boys & Girls from 1993 until she retired in 2004.  Janet was particularly pleased to make this gift; she said of this gift; 

“PRIDE and BASTA are great programs that make a tremendous impact on the lives of our at-risk youth.  We are proud to have been associated with these programs for the past 6 years and see this gift as our opportunity to provide further support for these worthwhile programs.”

We couldn't agree more Janet!

Mr. Randy Krassow was excited that the donated funds would go directly to our local at-risk youth intervention and prevention programs.  Randy says, 

“I’m proud to support the programs and want to thank Deputy Chief of Police Rick Martinez and Bryan Wall, Retired County Office of Education Deputy Superintendent, for their leadership. I want to especially acknowledge and thank Santa Cruz Police Officer Joe Hernandez.  Joe brought the PRIDE program to my attention several years ago. He is committed to providing opportunities to our community’s youth and giving them the tools they need to succeed. Joe is an exemplary person and a credit to our Police Department.”

We'll add a hearty "Amen" to that Randy!

The P.R.I.D.E. program (Personally Responsible Individual Development in Ethics) is a 12 week prevention/intervention course for at risk youth ages 12 to 15.  It is designed to help young teens understand the impact of their current life choices upon their futures and aid them in their decision making processes, with the ultimate goal of assisting them onto a path toward a positive, successful life.  The harsh reality of negative choices and the personal success of positive choices is a theme stressed throughout the program.     

BASTA (Broad Based Supervision and Treatment Alternatives) is a countywide collaborative formed for the purpose of keeping schools and the community safe by reducing and preventing youth gang violence, school truancy, suspensions, expulsions, and alcohol and drug abuse. The BASTA Steering Committee will provide oversight and engage in problem-solving, strategies by addressing the issues brought forward by the BASTA Region 1 and Region 2 Operational Teams.

OK, we might have gone a little crazy with the name acronyms....but we're government and we can't help giving everything an acronym.  Bottom line....these are great programs that are making a difference and this donation is a great investment in our community!

Join us in giving a standing ovation and doing "the wave" for the Krassow family.  

July Name That Thief - Round 2

We’re back after a short hiatus to deal with the harbor death investigation which took on a national media persona.

Round 2 of July “Name That Thief” features two cases.  Both cases are from Costco, who has amazing video for us.  In Case #1 we are still looking for the suspect.  In case #2 we have identified and arrested the suspects.  Here are your clues:

Case #1

Our suspect in this case is dubbed “El Mustachio the Magician” because he makes a Bose Soundlink speaker disappear before your very eyes…..actually after he steps behind an aisle.  

Aside from his amazing magic skills, he derives his name from the predominate mustache he is sporting along with those Ugg style boots.  He is described as a white male 30-40 years old. Here are still shots from the video:

 

This theft occurred on July 7^th at around 2:00 PM.  EL Mustachio selects a Bose speaker and then ducks in behind an aisle to take the speaker out of the box and conceal it under his shirt and jacket.  El Mustachio then walks out of the store failing to pay for the speaker.  Too bad they can’t make is start playing music remotely!

Here is a video of El Mustachio selecting his box.        

Here is a video of the magic trick.  Watch closely as El Mustachio makes the box disappear while adjusting his shirt and holding his arms in that telltale “I have something hidden under my shirt” look. 

Help us identify El Mustachio the Magician before he makes more merchandise disappear from our stores.

Case #2

Case #2 features that classic moment when you realize you left the store and forgot to steal everything you wanted.

On July 6^th, our two suspects entered Costco and selected electronics equipment including a universal charger and a Bose Soundlink.  Point of advice here….If you buy a used Bose Soundlink, there is a high probability it is stolen, so ask to see the receipt.  

They concealed their loot from the first run into the females purse and headed out the store.  Then it hits them….we forgot to steal everything on the list!!!  Back into the store they go.

This time they select a Blu-ray disc of the movie “Breaking Bad”…(the irony is rich here) and a pair of shoes.  They go back over to the Bose Soundlinks, remove the disc from the holder and the female slips off her shoes and puts on the new shoes.

Here is a video of them doing this second theft. 

This couple was destined for the Name That Thief contest, but excellent work by our officers identified them before I could get them on the blog.  In a subsequent case on July 13^th, they were arrested and identified as:

Gelal Aydogu – 24 year old, Transient

 Shara Agostini – 27 years old, Transient

Aydogu is already “On Probation”.  Both have a history of drug related arrests.

This makes three theft cases from Costco alone.  They were booked for Burglary and Conspiracy.