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Lockdown at Soquel Elementary Renews Concern Over Neighborhood Safety
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Lockdown at Soquel Elementary Renews Concern Over Neighborhood Safety
By Michael Thomas
On Tuesday, Oct. 3, an unidentified man en-tered the backyard of a home near Soquel Creek brandishing a knife and demanding money from a resident who was out in the yard. The suspect, who Sheriff’s deputies believe was a transient possibly living along the creek, evaded capture. The incident triggered a lockdown of nearby Soquel Elementary school, with students confined to their classrooms while deputies, Capitola Police and Highway Patrol officers scoured the area with dogs.
The incident renewed concerns about safety problems that were raised earlier this year by Soquel Village merchants and nearby residents.
According to Soquel Elementary Principal Eric Gross, the lockdown went smoothly.
“We were able to account for every child and adult in a matter of minutes,” Gross said. “We have drills for various emergency scenarios. Despite the fact that they interrupt instructional time, they seemed to have paid off in this instance in that people knew what to do.”
However, deputies now be-lieve that increased patrols have made progress in decreasing the amount of illegal creekside camping and related problems.
Lockdown Brought Concern
The lockdown piqued concern from some parents. In the weeks following the incident, staff in County Supervisor Jan Beautz’ office said they received calls from parents concerned about transients camping just a stone’s throw from the campus. Staff visited the creek corridor and asked the Sheriff’s Department to do a sweep as well.
“They [Sheriff’s deputies] were walking up and down the creek,” Beautz said. “It seemed like they were putting in a lot of effort.”
Signs of camping remain in the area of the Soquel Avenue bridge. But a recent visit to the Bay Avenue bridge closest to the school found the area surprisingly clean. Beneath the bridge are wide ledges that are sheltered from the rain and concealed from view by brush. The bridge’s underside is covered with graffiti. Though it is an attractive place for illegal camping, there were no signs of such activity in early November. There were few traces of litter and no fire rings or makeshift shelters.
Sheriff’s spokesman Fred Plageman said that deputies have been focused on the problem. “We’ve been enforcing more of the smaller violations to deter those people from being in the area,” Plageman said. “We need to do more enforcement for people frequenting Soquel Creek areas and the areas under the bridges.”
He pointed out that juveniles also gather in the areas under the bridge. “Some of the activity isn’t just transients,” he said.
Arrest Stopped Break-Ins at School
Security problems are not entirely foreign to Soquel Elementary. In 2005, the school experienced a rash of break-ins, minor theft and vandalism on campus. When Sheriff’s deputies ultimately staked out the school and arrested an intruder, he was at the time merely stealing food from the cafeteria.
However, there had been more serious thefts before the arrest and authorities were glad to get their suspect.
“Following the arrest of that person, there were no further incidents,” Plageman said.
Principal Gross, who has been at the school since mid-2005, confirmed that the break-ins have stopped. Nevertheless, he thinks that a transient camping spot and a school site don’t mix well.
“Those are people that you don’t want around kids,” he said.
Gross is the safety coordinator for not only the elementary school, but for the Soquel District as well. He said that the lockdown incident was a topic at recent safety committee meetings. He believes that parent participation is part of the solution at the relatively small, 400-student school.
“It’s intimate enough that most of the adults [on the campus] know most of the kids and the parents, so we can look out for each other and know who’s out of place,” he said.
Mixed Reports from Area Merchants
Beyond the school, some Village residents and shop owners have complained about the presence of transients. A couple days prior to the attempted robbery and lockdown at Soquel Elementary, a panhandler blocked a vehicle’s path on Soquel Avenue, shouting racial epithets at the African American driver and challenging him to a fight.
“Some patrons of the coffee shop intervened verbally and, by their presence, they were able to help calm the situation,” Plageman said.
The suspect fled towards the freeway and the creek. However, the man in this incident may have been the same individual who triggered the school shutdown.
“The description of that suspect and the robber were similar in nature,” he added.
Plageman said deputies have become familiar with the “cast of players” around the Village. But how many of them are actually creating trouble?
Adjacent to the Soquel Avenue bridge, where some make temporary beds in heavy brush, is Sir Froggy’s Pub. There, bartender Roger “Bogey” Loucks says that a few safety problems have occurred. But he doesn’t think that transients are necessarily troublemakers.
“Most of these guys are harmless,” he said.
Tish Miller, owner of the Flower Mill Florist on Soquel, offered a mixed review of whether Sheriff’s deputies were having an impact on the presence of transients in the neighborhood.
“We do see the Sheriff’s [deputy] and his presence is wonderful. It seems to be going okay,” Miller said. “But they are still here.”
She said that fending off taggers and graffiti is just as much of a problem.
“We just got some etching on our windows again,” she said. “We’ve all gone to motion [activated] lights.”
She said the traffic problems that merchants and residents brought to supervisors along with their crime concerns this year haven’t subsided.
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