Police Blotter: Don't Pee in Public

Even though there's no bathroom at the , peeing in the bushes is frowned upon.

Twice this week, grown men learned that lesson when they got tickets for public urination.

The grassy, shady park is a great place to sit on a bench and enjoy an afternoon siesta, but if nature calls, please walk down Main Street to the Watsonville library, which has public restrooms, or pop over to Cabrillo Colllege's Watsonville campus.

The men, who got tickets on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons, respectively, were cited under state Health and Safety Code 5411, illegally discharging sewage/waste/etc. That's a misdemeanor, though it's probable they will just pay a small fine.

Watsonville Police Log, Friday, Aug. 19

1:31 a.m.—Juan Sanchez, 19, was arrested for being drunk in public on the 1900 block of Freedom Boulevard.

Thursday, Aug. 18

7:10 a.m.—A car stereo was stolen from a vehicle on the 100 block of Atkinson Lane.

9:08 a.m.—Ramiro Ibarra, 31, and Juan Carlos Perez, 35, were arrested for trespassing and having an open container of alcohol at 25 Sakata Ln. Ibarra also was jailed for having an illegal knife and Perez was booked for giving cops a fake name.

9:58 a.m.—Porfirio Melgoza was arrested for a misdemeanor warrant on Carr and East Beach streets.

3:06 p.m.—Kevin Dale Gaither, 32, allegedly shoplifted items worth $31.99 from Ace Hardware on the 1900 block of Freedom Boulevard. He got a ticket.

3:55 p.m.—Joshua Zepeda, 22, a gang member, allegedly was talking to another gang member on the 400 block of Rodriguez Street, a violation of Zepeda's probation. He was arrested.

6:39 p.m.—Alexis Rodriguez, 18, was arrested on the 100 block of Associated Lane for a warrant.

7:37 p.m.—Randy Dell Sanders, 38, got a ticket for driving on a suspended license and without insurance on West Lake Avenue west of Rodriguez Street.

9:41 p.m.—Martin Zaragoza-Lopez, 35, was arrested for DUI and driving without a license on Rodriguez Street and Riverside Drive. Police said he was impeding traffic on Riverside and had a blood-alcohol level of 0.24, three times the legal limit.

10:13 p.m.—A vandal threw bocce balls through the front and back windshields of a car parked the 100 block of Union Street.

Wednesday, Aug. 17

9:40 a.m.—Jose Barriga, 24, was arrested for a misdemeanor warrant at 119 E. Lake Ave.

2:03 p.m.—A house on the 200 block of Sunnyhills Drive was burglarized. The thief left a latex glove behind.

4:08 p.m.—Pablo Chavarin-Hernandez, 24, was arrested for a probation violation.

4:50 p.m.—Alvaro Perez, 41, and Desiree Flores, 28, were arrested for trespassing at 129 San Benito St. Perez was jailed; Flores got a ticket.

7:34 p.m.—A teenage boy on a bike ripped a gold necklaces off the neck of a 9-year-old girl on Second and Rodriguez streets, then rode away.