Couple with Drugs, Guns, Stolen Checks Flees Deputies

A man and woman apparently equipped to go on quite the crime spree ditched their stolen car and ran from sheriff's deputies Wednesday.

Erin Boetzer of Scotts Valley and Bernad Gomez of Watsonville remain at-large after deputies inadvertently discovered the couple's cache of guns, drugs, stolen goods and tools that could be used to commit crimes, the Sheriff's Office reported Friday.

Boetzer, 26, and Gomez, 29, happened to be at a home on the 2600 block of Orchard Street in Soquel on Wednesday evening when deputies responded to the house to oversee an unrelated court-ordered child exchange, according to deputy April Skalland.

While there, the deputies saw the stolen car around 6:20 p.m. A police dog trained for drug recognition "alerted" on the vehicle, so deputies went to the house to ask about the car. That's when Boetzer and Gomez allegedly ran from the back of the home, Skalland said.

The couple was not found.

Deputies searched the car and reportedly found:

• narcotics packaged to sell
• a loaded .22-caliber handgun
• a loaded .45-caliber handgun
• bolt cutters
• gloves
• two-way radios
• stolen checks
• ID cards belonging to other people

Skalland asked that anyone with information about either Boetzer's or Gomez's whereabouts call 911 or 831-471-1121.