Corralitos Teen Arrested in Connection with May Robbery

A 16-year-old teenager was arrested Thursday in connection with a , Santa Cruz sheriff's deputy April Skalland said.

The arrest, reported on Monday, took place around 11 a.m. Thursday, when police arrested the teen at his home on suspicion of robbery and gun charges.

Skalland said detectives found evidence at the house that linked the teen to the robbery, although she couldn't release specifics of the uncovered evidence. The teen was later booked into juvenile hall.

“There were certain items that were definitely linked to the robbery,” Skalland said. “I don't' want to get into too many specifics of what those things were, but there are things that we know for a fact were part of the robbery.”

The robbery, which had taken place around 1 p.m. on a Monday, involved two women who were burglarized while sitting in a vehicle parked in a vacant parking lot. The women were approached by an unidentified person who witnesses reported to be either a light-skinned Latino or dark-skinned Caucasian. The suspect lifted his shirt to indicate he had a gun and then demanded the womens' purses, deputies reported in May.

The burglar reportedly fled at that point, and deputies called for a K-9 and a helicopter to help with the search, although they were unsuccessful at identifying the suspect at that time.

Skalland said the robbery was an isolated event, with no other crimes being connected to the May robbery, and that it had been a cause of great concern in the small town of Corralitos.

“It was in the middle of the day, it was an armed robbery, there was a gun, and it's such a small community that it was concerning that something like that could happen,” Skalland said.

The Corralitos community played a large part in the suspect's capture, according to Skalland, who said community members sent tips to authorities regarding a new figure who was noticed hanging around the Four Corners neighborhood near Amesti, Varni and Pioneer roads.

“We got tips from the community, which has been great," Skalland said. "It's a real team effort between the community and the sheriff's department to close cases like these and make sure criminals are taken off the streets who cause fear in our community.”  

The sheriff's office wasn't able to release the teen's name, and it has yet to be determined whether the suspect will be released to his parents or held in juvenile hall.