Update from Sac PD Capt. Daniel Hahn: We received a call from the victim of a burglary in Citrus Heights. The victim saw their stolen property on Craig’s List and met with the seller and bought it back. They called us. We determined where the suspect lived and also observed a subject holding an assault rifle in one of the pictures in the camera. When Officer Becerra drove up to the residence – a couple of subjects walked inside. No one would answer the door. Officers, K-9, etc. surrounded the house and began to call them out on the loud speaker. They came out (5 people). A couple were on parole and several had histories of theft. Numerous items of stolen property were found inside the residence and the gun was also found. The gun turned out to be an Air gun replica but looked very real. Five subjects were arrested for possession of stolen property. This investigation could involve numerous other thefts and is ongoing. 2/1/09 @ 2:34 pm, 2722 Macon Dr., Burglary/Stolen Property, Heritage Park
North Natomas was buzzing this afternoon — and it wasn’t over the Superbowl.
According to TV news reports, a burglary victim traced their stolen items to a home in North Natomas via Craigslist.
The result? A police raid in Natomas Park reportedly complete with SWAT, guns drawn and K-9 units… Click here for KCRA’s coverage, here for cbs13.com’s, and here for Fox 40’s account.
Thanks for this coverage. North Natomas is always in the news… although it’s too bad the stories are always about crime. This is yet another case where a citizen did the police’s job for them. Really sad commentary on the public safety situation in Sacramento.
I love this (from the KCRA story):
“The woman said police told her they couldn’t do much unless she matched the serial numbers.”
So SHE meets up with the perps, matches the serial numbers and gives the cops what they need.
Then:
“Though he appreciated the victim’s efforts, Hendrickson cautioned against citizens meeting with suspected criminals in the future.”
I understand all the constitutional reasoning behind this, but you have to admit it’s an annoying Catch-22.
John
What an idiot, posting that stuff on Craigslist… that’s the first place I looked when my car was broken into. Duh. Then I wrote to all of the people that said they had a GPS unit without a power cord for sale and suggested that maybe they stole it. (Of course I used a fake email address.) I felt better afterwards…
Dear John (I couldn’t resist!) –
That is exactly what I thought. Chastise her for getting the job done…
Trixie
The woman in this story should get a commendation from the police. She did their job for them, but they say they don’t recommend doing what she did. If more people stood up against thieves and criminals, our community would be a safer place.
Were they Russian gang members? anyone know? Or just white trash looking to make some quick cash for some meth.
Wait a minute here. The captain’s synopsis of the incident misses a KEY POINT I have read via other mediums. Key missing fact added in caps below:
“Update from Sac PD Capt. Daniel Hahn: We received a call from the victim of a burglary in Citrus Heights. The victim saw their stolen property on Craig’s List AND CALLED US (THE POLICE). WE TOLD THE VICTIM WE COULD DO NOTHING FOR THEM UNLESS THEY COULD VERIFY A SERIAL NUMBER. THE VICTIM THEN TOOK MATTERS INTO THEIR OWN HANDS SINCE WE WOULD/COULD NOT HELP THEM.. and met with the seller and bought it back. They called us AGAIN. We determined where the suspect lived and also observed a subject holding an assault rifle in one of the pictures in the camera. When Officer Becerra drove up to the residence – a couple of subjects walked inside. No one would answer the door. Officers, K-9, etc. surrounded the house and began to call them out on the loud speaker. They came out (5 people). A couple were on parole and several had histories of theft. Numerous items of stolen property were found inside the residence and the gun was also found. The gun turned out to be an Air gun replica but looked very real. Five subjects were arrested for possession of stolen property. This investigation could involve numerous other thefts and is ongoing. 2/1/09 @ 2:34 pm, 2722 Macon Dr., Burglary/Stolen Property, Heritage Park
I’m not belittling the PD’s work, what I’m saying is that the PD would not help the victim and thus the victim had to do the PD’s work for them.
I think it’s fair to ask why the PD would not help the victim the first time they called. If the victim ended up getting shot when they went to buy their stuff back, I bet we would be having a very different conversation here..
Please keep in mind, the original burglary took place in Citrus Heights and the thieves were apprehended in Sacramento, so technically two different jurisdictions.