Santa Cruz police and deputies get creative with naming suspects

Santa Cruz police said they have caught another suspect thanks to catchy names that get the public’s attention. News Channel 5 spoke with law enforcement agencies about their social media push to put criminals behind bars.

It’s hard to forget “The Mrs. Doubtfire Robber.” A man dressed like a lady while allegedly robbing a U.S. Bank and he’s not the only one Santa Cruz police have given a name in hopes of catching.

“We’re definitely glad to finally find out who Mrs. Doubtfire was,” Lt. Bernie Escalante, of the Santa Cruz Police Department said.

The “Mrs. Doubtfire” Robber, also known as Brandon Calantoc, 31, of Sand City, made the Santa Cruz police blog of shame after he allegedly robbed a bank while wearing women’s clothing on April 3.

Three weeks later, Carmel police officers question Calantoc about being linked to recent car burglaries and then searched his car.

“They found the purse that was used or worn during the course of the robbery as well as the necklace,” said Escalante.

Carmel police had seen the “be on the lookout” for “Mrs. Doubtfire” plastered all over the internet so they felt they may have Santa Cruz’s suspect.

“It comes down to catching the audiences attention,” Escalante said, looking up the departments blog.

“We’ve used it before. We’ve used it for the “bubbly bandit. That suspect was stealing high end champagne,” said Escalante.

The department has named suspects like, “El Mustachio, the “Magician,” and the “Basketball Burglar.” Police believe these creative posts helped make arrests.

The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office is also doing creative suspect naming in their department to help catch criminals faster.

Lt. Kelly Kent said the sheriffs office posts pictures and videos to social media frequently, including the a video of the “Eat Fresh Robber” at a Soquel Subway last week.

“Make them remember this person, and certainly, that name is memorable and his actions,” said Kent.

So far the “Eat Fresh Robber” post has more than 49,000 views and over 1,000 shares.

“You know, it’s still on Facebook, so we’re hoping in the future that someone recognizes him,” said Kent.

Kent hopes the public then remembers the post and that leads investigators to him.

Both departments have thousands of followers on social media. Escalante said sometimes they are only as good as the community helping them. As for Santa Cruz deputies, they’ll be advertising their Facebook page on their patrol bumper stickers.