Two Rocks Smash Windows of 'Take Back Watsonville' Founder's Home

Paul Gutierrez, Watsonville resident and founder of the neighborhood watch group "Take Back Watsonville," said two rocks smashed through the living room and dining room windows of his Palm Avenue home around 7:24 a.m. Friday.

"It sounded like gun shots coming through the windows. I threw Ivory [girlfriend] in the closet and told her to get down on the ground and went to check," Gutierrez said.

He said he found glass all over the floor and two rocks "the size of baseballs" used to smash the windows.

Gutierrez said he's been getting death threats all month, especially after beginning the Take Back Watsonville blog.

According to Gutierrez, his neighbor's video surveillance caught the rock thrower on tape. 

"We saw one [man] on the camera, and you see clearly that he throws it, and then runs across the street and then down the alley," said Gutierrez, who based that statement on what the neighbor described to him, as he had not yet seen the video himself. He said the video shows the face of the rock thrower clearly.

Lt. Michael Ridgway of the Watsonville Police Department said Friday afternoon that police were waiting for Gutierrez to get them the tape so they can review it. 

"Right now we don't have enough evidence to take immediate action. The victim has an idea who it was, not specifically but one of a group, and we're hoping that the video provides us more info," Ridgway said.

Gutierrez lives with two small children and his fiance, and is afraid for their safety should the situation will escalate.

"First it's rocks and then it's bullets," said Gutierrez.

Gutierrez's neighborhood watch program formed from 53 Palm Avenue residents who were fed up with crime in their neighborhood.