Accused killer who fled into woods caught trying to steal boat, California cops say

A man caught trying to steal a boat in Santa Cruz Harbor faces far more serious charges, California police discovered.

Austin Michael Medeiros, 27, of Rhode Island, is suspected of killing a 28-year-old woman on April 3 in Kneeland, California, the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Department said in a news release.

Medeiros confronted and assaulted a caregiver who arrived at Emily Rose May Lobba’s home, where he had been staying, and fled in Lobba’s vehicle, investigators said in an earlier release.

The caregiver then found Lobba dead inside the home, the release said.

Deputies responding to the home spotted Medeiros driving the woman’s vehicle and tried to pull him over, but he escaped into the nearby woods, sheriff’s officials said.

A week later, on Sunday, April 10, Santa Cruz police found Medeiros trying to steal a boat in the harbor, officers said in a news release. They also found a loaded, stolen handgun and psychedelic mushrooms on him, police said.

He’s being held in Santa Cruz on charges including grand theft, carrying a loaded stolen firearm and possession/transportation of a controlled substance. He’s expected to be extradited to Humboldt County to face the original charges, including murder and evading police, the sheriff’s office said in a release.

This story was originally published April 12, 2022 at 1:58 PM with the headline "Accused killer who fled into woods caught trying to steal boat, California cops say."