Crime & Safety
Nuestra Familia Prison Gang Member Busted
Watsonville police teamed with the county's Anti-Crime Team and Gang Task Force to catch the armed parolee-at-large Tuesday morning.
An armed, wanted Nuestra Familia prison gang member was tracked down and arrested by a trifecta of local law enforcement agencies on Tuesday morning, Watsonville police reported.
Albert Martinez, 35, was riding in a red Cadillac driven by Salina Tavera around 10:30 a.m. when officers tried to pull them over. Rather, Tavera sped away and led police on a 2.1-mile chase from Main Street and Holm Road to Holly Drive and Sunny Hills, police reported.
Martinez, a Watsonville resident, hadn't reported to his parole agent. That prompted a surveillance operation by the police department's Gang Unit, the Santa Cruz County Anti-Crime Team and the Santa Cruz County Gang Task Force.
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When officers searched the Cadillac, they reportedly found a handgun that had been stolen from Hollister home in April.
Martinez was arrested on suspicion of violating his parole, being a felon in possession of a firearm, gang participatin and possessing stolen property. Tavera, a 19-year-old Watsonville woman, was jailed on suspicion of evading police.
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Police told the Register-Pajaronian newspaper that Martinez is a "high-ranking member of the Nuestra Familia prison gang." The gun, the newspaper reported, was a loaded .357-caliber revolver.
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