By Jon Chown
Aptos resident Mike Perez never set out to be a hero, but he stepped up when the moment arrived. Instead of praise or fame, however, he’d mostly like to be left alone.
Perez, 55, was walking his dog, Bear, near Aptos High School when he discovered a firearm and ammunition in a backpack that has since been at the center of news coverage. At first, authorities feared the weapon had been staged for a future attack on the school. Police now believe it was left behind after an altercation on campus Dec. 27.
Whatever the reason it was there, discovering the weapon and taking it out of circulation may have saved lives.
Mike Perez and Bear wait near where they found the backpack for police to arrive.
“Anytime somebody finds something like that, it’s a good thing. A firearm left in the open like that is a very dangerous situation,” said Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Sgt. Ryan Farotte.
Perez is a recovering alcoholic who has been fighting Stage 4 colon cancer for the past five years. He has been partially disabled all of his life because of a condition in which his hip does not fit properly into its joint, and he has undergone two hip replacement surgeries. He freely admits he is struggling.
He said his life began to feel like it was being picked apart after he posted online about finding the weapon.
“It’s making me feel like crap,” Perez said. “They even question why I have a neck gaiter on. It’s because my skin is falling off my face because I have cancer.”
Perez was walking his dog near Aptos High School on Jan. 18, as he often does, when he made the discovery.
“We were walking around the school and Bear stops and looks over at the poison oak area, and then he put up his paw like he was pointing,” Perez said. “I saw him looking into the woods, so I’m thinking there is a predator there or a loose dog.”
Perez went to take a closer look and noticed a tree branch had been snapped off and laid in the opposite direction, as if to hide something.
“That’s what caught my eye,” he said. “So I grabbed a big stick and knocked off the leaves.”
What he saw immediately frightened him.
“When I saw the gun and pulled it up and saw what it was, I wanted to get out of there,” Perez said. “I crouched down and I’m looking around for the guy who’s coming for this bag. I’m thinking this dude is coming back.”
Perez said the bullets looked unusual and unlike anything he had seen before. Deputies later told him they were armor-piercing rounds. He said the trigger appeared damaged and the weapon looked like it could discharge if jostled.
“It looked very sketchy,” he said.
Perez disassembled the gun so it could not be used, opened the chamber to ensure it was clear, then called 911 and waited. He said he feared the owner might return at any moment.
“I figured he was out there,” he said. “I didn’t know what to do, but I knew I couldn’t just leave the weapon there, so I stood guard.”
About 30 minutes later, deputies arrived and recovered the weapon. Perez said he was immediately treated as a suspect.
“I feel vindicated now,” he said.
Soon afterward, online harassment began. In addition to accusations from people he has never met suggesting he was involved with the weapon, Perez said others accused him of trying to benefit from the situation.
“A parent mentioned creating a GoFundMe and I replied that I could use a bike (due to his hip condition),” he said. “Mine was stolen, and my dad had sold my car thinking I was going to die. But it wasn’t even my idea. I’m not trying to get rich off this, believe me.”
Mike in First Grade
Perez moved back to Santa Cruz County during the COVID-19 pandemic to care for his mother, who is 87. When he later became ill, he initially thought he had contracted COVID-19. Instead, he was diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer.
He underwent chemotherapy and radiation, which he said were grueling and initially ineffective. Doctors recommended another surgery, but he said he could not go through with it.
Facing death, Perez said he relapsed into drinking. “Then I said, ‘F this. I prayed to God: Heal me or kill me.’ A day later I had zero desire to drink,” he said. “I went back to the hospital, they did an MRI and the tumor was gone. They’re still scratching their heads about it.”
Perez said he remains physically and mentally weak from the ordeal, which made the online criticism especially painful. He said he is now trying to gain weight and rebuild strength so he can better care for his mother.
“My bike got stolen, I’ve got no wheels, and life is pretty damn hard right now,” he said. “I walk Bear as far as I can go. When someone suggested getting Bear some wheels with a GoFundMe or whatever, I thought that would be amazing. I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up. We’re asking for nothing. We just want to be good neighbors and have fun while we can.”
Perez and Bear were recently invited over to the nearby California Highway Patrol office and Bear was made a Junior Officer. Perez said the little dog got loose and ran under everyone’s desk until they offered him some treats and corralled him.
“He’s God sent,” Perez said of his black Pomeranian. “I had nothing to do with the walk. I never do. I let him go wherever he wants and I just follow. I am just his human. … He gave me a reason to live. … He is my hero.”
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TOP PHOTO: Mike Perez and Bear before cancer.