Crime & Safety
Man Arrested for Stealing Flowers from Police Memorial
The man reportedly took the flowers and got in a cab, but was followed by a resident.
Just when you thought the bottom had been hit: A Santa Cruz man was arrested Friday for stealing a large bouquet of flowers from the memorial for two slain police officers at Doyle Street and North Branciforte Avenue.
A woman was paying her respects from across the street when she saw a man identified later at Kenneth Maffei, 53, take a bouquet and get into a cab. She called police and followed the cab herself.
Police stopped it at River and Portrero streets and found the flowers and Maffei, who claimed to have bought them.
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The witness identified him as the man she saw taking them.
He was arrested for public intoxication and vandalism to a law enforcement memorial.
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The flowers were returned to the site.
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