Santa Cruz County Carjacking Suspect Fires Gun In Restaurant, Leads Authorities On Wild Chase
DAVENPORT (CBS SF) -- A dangerous, gun-wielding carjacking suspect terrified guests inside a restaurant in a Santa Cruz County beach town Tuesday afternoon before leading authorities on a high-speed chase that ended with a stolen car going off a cliff.
It was later determined the suspect fired shots inside the restaurant before carjacking a victim and fleeing with authorities in pursuit.
The wild scene unfolded in the beach town of Davenport in Santa Cruz County.
At around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday afternoon, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office responded to the Davenport area after a report of a man shooting a gun in the air near Waddell and Scotts Creek.
Sheriff's deputies arrived at the Roadhouse Restaurant near Highway 1.
A line of sheriff's patrol vehicles blocked the entrance to the business.
Witnesses said the apparent carjacking happened when a man armed with gun walked inside the restaurant.
"We heard an officer interviewing a lady in the restaurant about her car being stolen at gunpoint and another patron said that guy fired shots into the air," a witness who gave his name as Brad told KPIX 5.
The suspect fled the scene driving north on Highway 1 and turned around going back down south, leading authorities on a high-speed chase.
Deputies found the car driving on West Cliff Drive in Santa Cruz when they say it went off the road and into the ocean.
Santa Cruz police would later confirm that the suspect was pulled from the water after driving the stolen car of a cliff and taken into custody.
A suspect fleeing in a stolen car drove over a cliff, into the surf. Moments later, suspect was safely taken into custody.
— Santa Cruz Police (@SantaCruzPolice) July 1, 2020
Thanks all #SantaCruz #LEO for helping out keeping our community safe & especially SCFD & county wide rescue swimmers for deploying on a moment's notice. pic.twitter.com/tOzRN72HTD
Deputies arrested the suspect on multiple charges, but have not details exactly what those charges are yet. No one was injured in the incident.