By Taylor Kimble
The events of Saturday, June 6th reverberated across the Santa Cruz Mountains with waves of fear. Amid the chaos, three strangers set aside their fears and risked their lives for the greater community to detain a shooter blasting through the Boulder Creek and Ben Lomond areas. The SLV community beams with pride as we honor our incredible police force as well as our local mountain heroes: Erik Thom and his dog Brown, Clara Ricabal, and Sam (who wishes no publicity).
Stopped by a roadblock, Erik and Clara met for the first time in a nearby parking lot where they heard a series of loud, serious cries for help. They rounded a corner down the street to see Sam and the suspect (Steven Carrillo) wrestling one another. Erik released Brown who ran towards the two men, having faith he would subdue the right guy—and right he was. When Brown grabbed hold of Carrillo’s leg, he quickly tossed aside a pistol and surrendered. Erik rushed to stop Brown’s attacks and assisted Sam in restraining Carrillo. Clara yelled for the officers around the block multiple times, alerting them of the capture and presence of the pistol and AR-15 rifle near the three men.
Clara is a resident of Boulder Creek who spends her time raising four children and competing in fishing tournaments. After the altercation with Carrillo, she admitted she felt helpless about only video-taping the incident and often thinks she should have done more. However, her bravery and fast actions during such a tense situation are obvious to the rest of us. Clara explained her quick response to the cries of help: It came from her twenty years of work as an ER nurse.
Erik may be a man without a house, but he certainly does not lack a home. He recently moved to the mountains with his precious pup for a fresh start. In need of money, he and Brown slept in his car in the Brookdale Lodge parking lot where an employee (Tressa Davis) discovered him. Her compassion for and familiarity with Erik’s situation led her to open her heart and home to this traveler. Without her act of kindness, our local hero might not have been where he needed to be in our time of crisis.
Erik’s rough start quickly turned around as the people of SLV continued to shower him and Clara with gratitude. A well-known community pillar (Kevin Foster) hired Erik for his skills as a carpenter, in addition to creating a donation site for both Erik and Clara’s heroism.
Overwhelmed by the public’s kindness and appreciation, the two heroes feel that they are now a real part of the Santa Cruz Mountains community. “I am finally a Mountain Woman,” Clara cried, “and I am so grateful and so surprised with how generous people are, especially in these hard times.” The people of SLV applaud and admire all our heroes for their valor during the atrocities of this historic weekend.
