[1] Born to Nelson Cruz Piña and Bethzaida Santiago Hernández.
He has an associate degree in police science from the Criminal Investigation College of the Puerto Rico Police, and a Bachelor of Social Sciences with a concentration in criminal justice of the Ana G. Méndez University System.
Since 1996 has worked as an officer in the Puerto Rico Natural Resources Ranger Corps, attached to the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources.
Served as a member of the city council in Peñuelas, Puerto Rico since 2000 and was elected again in 2004.
[2] In 2020, Cruz Santiago along with 5 others were referred to the Puerto Rico Office of the Special Independent Prosecutor's Panel by Dennise Longo Quiñones and he decried it as political persecution.