SANTA CRUZ — Four instances of violent behavior in Santa Cruz County over one month have been attributed to ingested LSD, according to the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office.
The string of incidents began with the Nov. 19 case of Luke Smith, 15, who was fatally shot by a sheriff’s deputy after he stabbed his father and uncle in Corralitos.
A fifth report documented a 17-year-old girl who ingested LSD on an ice pop in Felton on Dec. 14. That girl had a seizure and nearly died because of the drug, said Sgt. Chris Clark, the sheriff’s office spokesman.
Reading this on your phone or tablet? Stay up to date with our new, free mobile app. Get it from the Apple app store or the Google Play store.
The office is investigating the origins of the drug, Clark said. “We know this stuff is probably still out there,” Clark said.
The reports spanned Nov. 19 to Dec. 19.
“It was a trend we noticed following Luke Smith’s death,” Clark said. “Four out of the five we’ve seen over the last month involved some level of violence on the part of the person who took it.”
Dec. 12: Around 8:30 p.m., California Highway Patrol officers pursued a Toyota Corolla driven erratically on Highway 17 in a construction zone south of Sugarloaf Road, Officer Trista Drake said.
The car knocked over 28 of 40 cones marking the construction area, she said, and at one point was dragging cones and metal signs. The Toyota stopped on Laurel Road, and the driver fled on foot. He was caught by pursuing officers. Marko Manojlovic, 29, of Watsonville is suspected of evading arrest and battery on a police officer.
“One officer was kicked several times by Manojlovic,” Drake said. “It was determined Manojlovic was under the influence of LSD, which contributed to his aggressive assault.”
Dec. 16: Around 7 p.m., a 17-year-old boy who had taken LSD was in a car on Highway 9 with four others heading to a concert in San Francisco. The boy, whose identity was not released because of his age, “started to have a reaction while he was in the back seat of the car because of the LSD he had taken,” Clark said.
“He was lunging toward the front seat and acting erratic,” Clark said. The friends stopped the car and the boy ran into the woods.
The boy walked out of the woods a few hours later without being hurt, Clark said.
Dec. 19: A 21-year-old man ingested LSD on a candy at a home in Felton. “He had a reaction to the LSD, which ended up causing his brother to have to physically restrain him until we got there,” Clark said.
The sheriff’s office has received 17 cases involving LSD in 2016. That number is low compared to reports of other types of drugs, Clark said.
“It’s a small number of cases, but one (Luke Smith’s) did have an outcome everybody wishes wouldn’t have happened,” Clark said. “These other four easily could have resulted the same way.”
Clark said he does not remember LSD posing such a threat in recent years.
“We’re hoping to create awareness about this,” Clark said. He also advised parents to ask questions about any suspicious items, such as medicine droppers and eyedrop containers, that might have LSD in them.
“Ask them, ‘What is that? Why do you need it?’” Clark said. “Lastly, it might not be your child. It might be the child your child hangs out with like the scene on Highway 9. He was in a vehicle with other kids. He was acting erratic. His behavior could have caused the car to crash.”
For information about the rash of LSD cases, call 831-471-1121 or visit recoverywave.com.
