Police: Thieves cause domino effect crash on Highway 1 in Santa Cruz County
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (KRON) — A group of thieves from the Bay Area triggered an incident on Thursday that stretched from Cannery Row in Monterey, all the way up to Aptos in Santa Cruz County.
One man in the group was ultimately arrested: Shawn Morita, 22, of Hayward. He was booked into a Monterey County Jail on burglary and conspiracy charges.
The hours-long incident began just before 4 p.m. Employees at Sunglass Hut at 750 Cannery Row called police reporting an in-progress burglary, the Monterey Police Department said.
Three masked men entered the store and stole dozens of sunglasses worth more than $30,000, employees told police.
MPD officers quickly found video surveillance of a silver Chrysler 300 sedan speeding and driving recklessly away from Monterey.
Neighboring Central Coast law enforcement agencies notified MPD that the Chrysler was captured on an Automated License Plate Reader camera on General Jim Moore Boulevard. Police found the Chrysler on Del Monte Avenue in Marina and pulled it over.
The vehicle yielded and the driver, Morita, was taken into custody.
MPD wrote, “When officers attempted to detain the other occupants in the vehicle, one of them entered the driver’s seat and fled in the vehicle. Officers pursued the vehicle to Reservation Road and Highway 1 north. During the pursuit, one of the vehicle occupants threw out a bag of sunglasses. The vehicle was not located and was last seen traveling at a high rate of speed on Highway 1 north.”
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At 4:53 P.M., the fleeing suspects crashed the Chrysler into another driver on Highway 1 near the State Park Drive exit in Aptos. The force of the impact caused a domino effect as cars rear-ended into more cars. Multiple drivers were injured, police said.
Witnesses told investigators that three men fled from the crash scene on foot. Law enforcement agencies blocked parts of Highway 1, causing massive traffic gridlock during Thursday evening’s commute.
The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office ordered nearby residents to shelter in place because the thieves were still at-large. The manhunt was eventually called off and the trio evaded arrest.
On Friday, Monterey police released surveillance photos from the Sunglass Hut store. The photographs above show three suspects who are still wanted by police:
Anyone with information regarding this incident is encouraged to call Sergeant Greg Galin at 831-646-3872
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