Civilian takes down suspect in Soquel shooting
A civilian is credited with helping take down a suspect in a Soquel shooting.
The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office said it happened around 4:46 p.m. outside of the Safeway on 41st Avenue, Wednesday.
A deputy near the Soquel parking lot heard the gunshots and “was able to broadcast the description of the small orange vehicle fleeing the area at a high rate of speed. She got in her car and attempted to get up to the vehicle, other deputies were staged along Soquel Drive where the orange Honda fit began to pass them.” said Sgt. Brian Cleveland.
The victim was in his vehicle with an infant when the suspect opened fire, “one of the bullets narrowly missed striking the infant as well.” The victim in his 20s was flown out to a Bay Area trauma center and is expected to survive.
18-year-old suspect Joshua Strauss, who was wanted in San Jose for another shooting left the scene in an orange Honda Fit. A short time later he crashed the car into a sign at 2842 Soquel Avenue.
Strauss got out of his car and tried to run when an unknown person helped take him down, “”we’re very thankful that this person stepped in. This could have been a completely different thing at that could have happened, we didn’t know if he was armed at that point. We did recover a gun in the car later,
but this could have turned out completely different,” says Sgt. Cleveland.
Strauss was arrested and a gun was found in the Honda Fit. Strauss was injured in the crash and flown to a Bay Area hospital.
Resident’s in the area tell KION this shooting puts them on edge. “You feel like you constantly have to be looking around for any kind of suspicious behavior,” says Patty Lester.
Strauss was later booked into the Santa Cruz County Jail on charges of attempted murder and is being held without bail. The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office is working with San Jose Police to coordinate the cases.
