SCPD Working 24-7 Arrest Suspect Burglar at 4:20 am

While You Slept, SCPD Graveyard Shift Responded To 55 calls for service, generated 5 cases, and made 4 arrests. Here’s a case highlight.

At 4:20 this morning, SCPD responded to alarm in the 200 block of River Street, Down Works. SCPD Officers located Troy Witzke with loot stolen from the business.

Troy Witzke, 29 years old, from Santa Cruz 

Our partners at First Alarm provided excellent assistance.A First Alarm guard witnessed the man inside the business, throwing items out of the building window.

Mr. Witzke, 29 years old, from Santa Cruz was arrested for commercial burglary and booked into jail. The stolen property recovered totaled $5,929.00 from store inventory.

#SantaCruzPolice #Working247 #TeamWork

Suspect Burglar Apprehended - From Two Perspectives

Yesterday, 2/23/2017, SCPD responded to the report of a home burglary in progress near Carbonera and El Rancho. Resident thanks SCPD for our quick response to a stressful situation.

Here is the homeowner's perspective: "This happened live this morning while we were upstairs. I think he broke in a few minutes before 9 am (when I heard a thump). I looked out the windows from upstairs expecting to see a branch down or the city working on the streets cleaning up post-rains. Then heard a second one that definitely sounded unusual. At that point, I went downstairs, saw my bike outside (it had been suspended from the ceiling) and could see him rummaging through our garage. I called 911 immediately, kept an eye on his only escape route, but NOT wanting to be seen. The police arrived in 5 minutes! There had been a break-in on the other end of Carbonera, so the first car was nearby. Eventually, 5 cars were there. Thanks to the police for the fast response! The guy apologized as he was led out... nothing was lost."

SCPD perspective: "An SCPD officer was on scene within 1 to 2 minutes, as she had been down the street taking a cold residential burglary report. When officers arrived on the scene, they established a perimeter and located the suspect inside the garage, in the act of removing stolen property.

The suspect, Christopher Mitz, was taken into custody without incident and was also positively identified as the suspect in the first burglary report that PO Howard-Gibbon had taken. As a result of the investigation, the suspect was booked for two counts of residential burglary. We later received a third call of a cold attempted burglary on the same street. Through video surveillance, we were able to identify the suspect as he was preparing to break into the residence, but was scared off. A third report was taken for prowling."
If you don’t feel safe, call 9-1-1. If you or a neighbor sees people they do not recognize from the neighborhood walking in the alleys or between houses, call in a “suspicious person” to 9-1-1 and let the SCPD check out the stranger.

SCPD arrested burglary suspect within 24 hours thanks to a tip from the public.

The Santa Cruz Police Department was able to swiftly develop information identifying this burglary suspect thanks to a tip from the public. Efrain Berulas, 49, from Capitola was arrested on Thursday December 10, 2015 at approximately 11:00 a.m. Berulas was taken into custody without incident.

On Wednesday 12/9/15, SCPD released surveillance photos and video to the public asking for help in identifying a burglary suspect. As a result, a tip about the suspect aided investigators in identifying Efrain Berulas.

Efrain Berulas AKA Francisco Rosas

Berulas initially identified himself as Francisco Rosas. His true identity was discovered after his arrest. Investigators learned Berulas was a convicted felon who had previously been deported. He had also been previously convicted of burglary stemming from a 2001 case.

Detectives served a search warrant at Berulas’ 42nd Ave. home. During the search, Detectives recovered stolen property belonging to the victim including electronics and tools. Detectives also recovered a shotgun and SKS rifle.

Berulas has been charged with burglary, felony possession of a firearm and giving false identification to a police officer.

The Santa Cruz Police Department would like to thank the community for the support in sharing this suspect’s photo. There was an amazing number of shares and re-posts of the SCPD Facebook message & YouTube video on social media. Within a day, investigators were able to identify and arrest the suspect Efrain Berulas due to an anonymous tip received.

Background: On Saturday, December 5, 2015 at approximately 6:15 p.m., the suspected burglar was captured on video surveillance inside the victim’s home. When the victims returned home the next day, they discovered the home had been burglarized. The suspect took electronics and tools while ransacking the home.