Santa Cruz County’s B.A.D.G.E.S. program, or Before Aggressive Driving Gets Everyone Stopped, was hosted by California Highway Patrol this month.     The cooperative traffic safety effort focuses on reducing traffic offenses in a different area every month.    Officers from the Santa Cruz, Watsonville, Scotts Valley and Capitola Police departments paired with CHP to enforce school zone violations in the Soquel area.    150 citations were issued for various offenses, including speeding and red light violations.

In one of three shootings that occurred early this morning in Salinas, a man was shot multiple times in what may have been a gang related incident.      The victim, a known Norteno gang member and wanted parolee, was discovered by Salinas Police on the 400 block of Soledad Street around 3:40am, with 5 gunshot wounds in his upper body.     Neighbors reported hearing a loud argument between several people, followed by numerous gunshots.    No one witnessed the actual shooting and the victim was not forthcoming with police.     He was transported to a local hospital where he remains in critical but stable condition.   

The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office has released a police sketch of a man who allegedly tried to assault a teenage girl in Boulder Creek.     The 16-year-old girl was getting off a bus around 11pm on august 26^th when she was grabbed from behind by the assailant.    The man pulled her hair and the victim screamed.    She was able to run to her home, and the man drove off in a white pickup truck.     The girl told her father what had happened, and he attempted to locate the suspect, following a truck that fit her description until he finally lost the vehicle.    The suspect is described as a 6 foot tall man in his early 30’s with a thin build and light brown or blonde hair.   A sketch of the suspect can be seen on the Santa Cruz Sentinel website.

Homeowners from Santa Cruz and Watsonville are being warned about a loan modification scam by the Santa Cruz County District Attorney’s consumer affairs report.      The scam targets homeowners on the brink of foreclosure.    Alleged salespeople are going door to door claiming to be able to stall sale of the house, as long as the homeowner gives them their mortgage payment.   The Consumer Affairs department warns homeowners that this practice is illegal, and urges them to avoid paying anyone but their lenders.    They say that most of these operations, some of which are advertised in newspapers or on TV, usually yield no positive results.