Deputies catch thieves with drugs & stolen items across Central Coast

The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office busted two thieves in possession of drugs and several thousand dollars worth of items belonging to businesses along the Central Coast.

This week, Deputy Ryan Fulton with the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office was working patrol when he came across two suspects standing near a car behind Safeway in Watsonville.

Deputy Fulton discovered the suspects, Miguel Dominguez and Carlos Gamez had heroin and paraphernalia on the seat of the car.

“When Deputy Fulton searched the vehicle, he found not only additional narcotics, but also the race transponder from Fleet Feet,” said the Sheriff’s Office.

Around Thanksgiving, Fleet Feet in Aptos had several items including a $5,000 electronic transponder stolen from a moving truck near their business.

Wednesday, Deputy Fulton also found two commercial grade dehumidifiers in the car.

The Sheriff’s Office said, “Deputy Fulton obtained a confession and learned they stole the dehumidifiers the previous night from a business in Monterey.”

The transponder and the dehumidifiers were returned to their rightful owners.

Dominguez and Gamez were booked for a variety of theft and narcotics related charges.