Two arrested in Santa Cruz gang-related shooting

SANTA CRUZ — Police arrested two men on suspicion of an allegedly gang-related shooting at the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf and additional possible arrests remained pending Wednesday afternoon, authorities said.

Joseph Ibarra, 20, of Watsonville, and Said Paredes-Cazares, 23, of Soquel, were booked Wednesday at the Santa Cruz County Jail, each on suspicion of felony charges for shooting from a vehicle, conspiracy and attempted murder. Ibarra remained held in lieu of $600,000 bail, while Paredes-Cazarez, who was arrested on suspicion of an additional misdemeanor DUI charge, was held without bail, according to jail records.

Santa Cruz Police Department detectives believe they have tied the two men to a shooting reported in the early hours of Monday morning that left a 17-year-old with a nonfatal injury, said Deputy Police Chief Jon Bush. Officers were called at 12:27 a.m. to the area of the wharf near a kayak rental kiosk, with reports of gunfire and occupants in multiple vehicles facing off, Bush said. Multiple shots were fired into the vehicle occupied by the injured teen and multiple other passengers, he said.

“We’ve been working through this since Monday,” Bush said. “We developed some information that led us to make two arrests but there’s still additional suspects outstanding that we’re trying to identify, locate and arrest, as well.”

Prior to this week’s arrest, Ibarra was out of jail on bail in the midst of an ongoing three-defendant Santa Cruz County felony battery and assault with great bodily injury case dating back to August 2020, according to Santa Cruz County Superior Court records. Additional misdemeanors charged in that case include trespassing, petty theft and resisting arrest. Paredes-Cazares, whose name is also spelled Paredes-Cazarez in jail records, recently pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of driving with a suspended license with a prior DUI conviction.