Crime & Safety
Santa Cruz Teen Arrested for Possession of Narcotics
Deputies break up a party off East Cliff Drive and find a backpack that leads to arrest.
A 19-year-old Santa Cruz man was arrested Friday after police searched his backpack and found a bottle of Hennessy cognac, a mason jar of marijuana and a zip-lock bag with 62 tablets of ecstasy, Santa Cruz sheriff's Sgt. Dan Campos said.
Deputies were dispatched at around 5:25 p.m. Friday to follow up on a report of people drinking near a black pickup and another vehicle on Johan's Beach Drive at East Cliff Drive in Santa Cruz.
After contacting the group and smelling alcohol, deputies asked if they had been drinking. They checked IDs and noticed that Austin Jules Pascal was under the age of 21.
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Deputies searched a backpack they said belonged to Pascal and found the alcohol and drugs. They determined that the contents were meant to be sold, Campos said.
Campos said a field test conducted on the tablets determined them to be ecstasy. Pascal was arrested on suspicion of possession of narcotics for the purpose of sale and was booked into Santa Cruz Jail.
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The case is still under investigation.
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