'Citizen's Arrest' of Suspected Safeway Shoplifter; K-9 Cop Nabs Alleged Cell Phone Thief

Three family members shopping at Safeway on Morrissey Boulevard on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. noticed store security fighting with a possible theft suspect, according to police.

When the man, later identified as James Wentworth, a 33-year-old from Santa Cruz, broke free from the grocery employee and fled through the post office lot and into a neighborhood -- the undeterred family joined the chase running through backyards and over fences, said the Santa Cruz Police Department. 

Wentworth allegedly attempted to punch one of his pursuers, but the family member knocked down the subject, instead, and the other family members helped "hold him down" until officers arrived, police said.

Police said Wentworth, who lists an address on Coral Street and himself as "transient," has several previous arrests.  

In a separate case on Sunday night, locals who parked their car at 11 p.m. on the 500 block of Water Street returned 15 minutes later and realized they left the sunroof open and their two cell phones were gone, police said.

One used a friend’s phone to access the cell tracker on one of the missing phones and tracked the device to nearby Ocean and Franklin streets, police said.

Santa Cruz officers tried to stopped a suspect, Evan Hunt, 20 of Santa Cruz, who was on a bicycle, but he took off, police said. 

K-9 cop Argus was deployed and corralled Hunt near the end of Pryce Street, police said. Hunt reportedly was carrying the phone with tracking software; the other phone is still missing, police said.

Hunt was in possession of bolt cutters, as well, and was booked into County Jail for suspicion of possession of stolen property, burglary tools and resisting arrest, according to law enforcement.