SANTA CRUZ — Santa Cruz Police detectives have arrested five suspects who allegedly participated in a June 23 robbery in which a victim was assaulted and shot, SCPD spokeswoman Joyce Blaschke said Monday.
Arrested were Bryce Bertao, 19, from Watsonville, Juan Escobar, 21, from Castroville, Roberto Ramirez, 23, from Watsonville, De’maria Strong, 19, from Salinas and John Zarate, 22, from Freedom.
All are facing charges of robbery and assault with a deadly weapon. They were booked into Santa Cruz County Jail.
Police responded to a call of a victim who had been shot in the head at 5:53 p.m. in a parking lot at 701 West Cliff Drive.
There, they found a 50-year-old man with multiple lacerations to his head, including a grazing gunshot wound, Blaschke said.
According to Blaschke, the suspects approached the victim and demanded his property. A physical fight ensued, and one of the suspects fired a shot at the victim.
The victim was treated at the scene by the Santa Cruz Fire Department and AMR, and transported to a local hospital. His injuries did not appear life-threatening, Blaschke said.
Multiple witnesses described the suspect vehicle, including a license plate number and direction of travel.
Shortly after the incident, the suspect vehicle was spotted traveling south on Highway 1 near Chestnut Street.
Some of the stolen property was located inside the suspect vehicle and returned to the victim, Blaschke said.
Police stopped the BMW in the Harvey West area, and arrested the suspects.
Multiple agencies were involved in response to this incident including California Highway Patrol, Santa Cruz Sheriff’s Office, Scotts Valley Police Department, Santa Cruz County Gang Task Force, Santa Cruz Fire Department and American Medical Response.
