Watsonville Police on June 10 rounded up nearly 1,000 pounds of illegal fireworks after they uncovered a group of people, including a teenager, suspected of selling dangerous fireworks in Watsonville and across Santa Cruz, San Benito and Monterey counties.
Watsonville Police spokeswoman Michelle Pulido said an investigation led officers to a home in Hollister, where the fireworks were being stored, along with an illegal assault rifle and half a kilo of cocaine.
The case is ongoing and will be forwarded to the Santa Cruz County District Attorney’s Office for prosecution.
“This major bust highlights the importance of our fireworks enforcement efforts and how important your help is in keeping our neighborhoods safe by reporting illegal fireworks,” Pulido said.
WPD offered this information about what to know:
• Fines are up to $1,000 per violation
• Property owners/tenants can also be cited
What is being done in Gilroy to eliminate illegal fireworks? Every year I hold my breath in fear of fires being started and every year police have their hands tied thanks to liberal legislation! Are you waiting for a fire disaster where homes are destroyed because there’s only one fire hydrant on the street and there are so many cars and trucks parked on the street you can’t get to it? Why not address the peoples concerns before a tragedy happens and people die? I still remember when that was part of the plan for protecting citizens. Now we just get notices when another fire house is being shut down!
Illegal fireworks are being shot off all the time in the area I live in, so why wait for the Fourth of July to squelch it from setting fires to adjacent homes!