Home invasion robbery, Shots fired incident

COWAN NEIGHBORS ~

Monday, JUNE 13, 2011 5:30 a.m. -6:00 a.m. on VALKYRIE WAY (cross of ROBERTSON/MONTCLAIRE)

As reported on the news - A male, light skinned, 5-11 to 6-1, slim build, wearing black hooded sweatshirt entered the backyard of the neighbors home. The neighbor & family were sleeping, family dog home. The male ransacked the house, piling up the personal belongings of the neighbor before going into the masterbedroom where the homeowner was sleeping. The male kept the neighbor and her son in the house while he continued to "collect" their property.

The entire burglary was interrupted (around 8:00 a.m.) when concerned co-workers arrived at the home to check on their very punctual co-worker who never showed up for work. The co-workers interrupted the male who ran out of the house. The neighbor and her son survived unharmed along with the co-workers who scared off the bad guy. He fled on foot towards GREENVIEW (towards Watt Avenue).

I know this is a frightening e-mail. This incident was reported on the news also but it hits so very close to our homes. Neighborhood Watch does work-watch out for each other and phone 9-1-1 the minute you think a situation is "weird" or "unusual".

From Chuck:

Just for information, to the greater DPM area, (I've limited previous emails to the area concerned to gather more info) on Friday evening around 6PM, a male Hispanic was walking west on Lasuen, when a white van (possibly an Aerostar), pulled up to him, in the opposing trafic lane. Screams and yelling were heard, and then a loud "bang". The van then peeled out, and the hispanic male continued to walk towards Butano. 911 was called but no sheriff has responded to date. Bullet fragments were recovered and appear to be from a .25 auto. (It seems the "walker" fired a shot into the floorboard of the van, and scared them away. The "walker" was wearing a black shirt, and of stocky build.

This occured near the corner of Lasuen and Catalina.

Multiple incidents

Car burglaries which may lead to home burglary; stolen items may be pawned:

06/06/2011

From Julie: My Toyota Highlander, parked on my driveway (Cresta at La Sierra), was entered last night and rifled through thoroughly, taking the box of quarters for meters, 2 pairs of ladies sunglasses, current vehicle registration, and several house keys (no identifiers on them and not for this residence). The car was not damaged. Perhaps I forgot to lock the car last night; I usually re-lock it when I turn out the lights. I have filed a report with the sheriff's office. So the thieves are out there; beware.

From unknown: Julie, my husband’s car was also broken into. (Cresta Way, right next to the park, a few houses down from you) He discovered the break in this morning, but we got home late last night from a week-long vacation, so we weren’t sure when it might have happened. He thought he has locked his car, but the car was unlocked this morning and it had been rifled through. All that was missing was some change and an envelope including his registration and insurance paperwork. We are just glad there wasn’t more in the car for them to steal. Not sure what they are planning on doing with the registration though....that is a little concerning. It is unnerving that break-ins like this are happening in the neighborhood. He is also going to file a sheriff’s report.

From unknown regarding the above: Please make sure you didn’t have a garage door opener in your car. Thieves have been known to break into cars and steal the opener and registration (so they have the address) and come back later to burglarize the house.

That being said, a young man who committed a number of car burglaries last fall. He usually sold the items to Capital City Loan & Jewelry, a pawn shop on El Camino near Watt, across from Wal-Mart. You may want to check there in a couple of days for your stolen items.

Car Crash (potential drunk driving?), Catalytic Converter Theft

Cowan NW area, 06/06/2011

This incident happened late Sunday night, little after 1 AM Monday morning on North Edge.

Please spread the word and let's see if the car comes back into the neighborhood.

Thanks Laura for getting me the info.

This car did a lot of damage to the decorative fence in front, and went flying through the neighborhood.

Here is the info:

I just wanted to pass on information about an incident that occurred on North Edge Drive. At 1:18 I heard a car screeching through the neighborhood and then a loud crash. We got up and looked outside and the car had knocked down a front yard fence and row of rose bushes in our next door neighbor's yard. Another neighbor that lives on Whitney followed the car, but couldn't catch the guy. He said it was a white male, about 200 lbs. and around 30 years old as far as he could tell. The neighbor said the driver was in a dark blue Chevy compact with a Paul Blanco ad where the license place should have been. We called it into the CHP, but they did not investigate until today when our neighbor made a report. The driver didn't appear to know our neighborhood because he pulled into Canna Court, probably thinking he could leave the neighborhood that way.

My neighbor's catalytic converter was stolen today June 8, 2011 at 4:45 a.m. His truck was parked in his driveway on the 2100 block of Maryal Drive. The truck alarm awoke us and 2 guys were seen getting into a silver car and driving off.

Update on the Wee Haul incident

From a member of the Carmichael watchgroup:

I just called Greg, the owner of Wee Haul and he told me what happened. He was doing some foreclosure work and he has a set of master keys to vacant houses. He was given the wrong address and told the neighbor what had happened. Also, he spoke to Better Business Bureau and let them know also.

From Brenda: A suggestion for my neighbors...

Years ago, a Highway Patrolman spoke to our work group and he recommended that we NOT keep our car registration and even Insurance paperwork in our vehicle. Nothing with our home address on it. He said carry it on your person. He stated that if yu are at work, shopping or whatever and your car is broken-in-to the thief has your home address and knows you are NOT at home.

Since then, I carry a copy in my wallet/purse of the necessary paperwork. I never leave it in my car.

Potential Pedophile / Abductor in the area

I have just heard by word of mouth from a friend in the "Garden of the Gods" neighborhood (behind the Whole Foods shopping area) that 2-3 times in the last 4 weeks a man in a cream-colored older sedan beckoned children playing in their front yards to approach the car. The children fortunately knew not to approach a stranger's car!

Please let your families and neighbors know of the potential danger. If you see a person doing this, protect the children first, and get a plate number and make a report if you have the opportunity.

More info on the "Hauling Service" attempted burglary

Around 9:00am today (Friday 5/27), an older brown pickup backed into the driveway of a home in Carmichael. The pickup had plywood sides and the name of a hauling company on the side. The license plate was muddy and unreadable. The sign on the side of the truck read: Wee Haul (916) 470-7977 (more on this at the bottom).

Attached is a picture of the truck.

Two men got out: one was a white man, yellow/white hair, approximately 60 years old wearing glasses, jeans, and a green t-shirt. The other was a hispanic man in his thirties with dark skin, wearing a dark long-sleeved shirt and jeans.

The older white male went to the front door and attempted to open it (he did not knock or ring the bell). He appeared to put a key in the lock. A relative of the homeowner was in the house and called out "who is this?" The man was clearly surprised and said something about the address and hastily headed to the truck.

A neighbor who had been suspicious upon seeing the truck back into the driveway came over to investigate and confronted the older, white man who said, "tell the lady I'm sorry I tried to open her door." They then took off, heading south on Eastern past Whitney.

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While it is possible that this was an honest mistake, there are two burning questions:
1. If they had really just gone to the wrong address, why didn't he just say he was there to do a job?
2. If they had misread the address, why did they leave the area completely when confronted?
3. In what instance would a hauling company open a front door without knocking?

I looked up Wee Haul and found them listed through several different services. Their address is listed as 5008 El Camino Ave, # 1, Carmichael, CA. I drove by 5008 El Camino and it's a Stop N Shop store on the south side of El Camino near Walnut. #1 appears be the building behind Stop N Shop, which looked like a house. I even looked at the Google satellite image for that address and there is a brown pickup with wood bed sides parked behind the Stop N Shop (link to satellite image)

The BBB has the contact person for Wee Haul listed as Mr. Gregg Sparkman (Owner).

http://local.yahoo.com/info-36133038-wee-haul-carmichael
http://www.angieslist.com/companylist/us/ca/carmichael/wee-haul-reviews-3837116.aspx
http://www.bbb.org/northeast-california/business-reviews/hauling/wee-haul-in-carmichael-ca-47026784
http://www.superpages.com/bp/Carmichael-CA/Wee-Haul-L2060726394.htm

"Hauling Service" Attempted Burglary

This incident happened today (Friday) at 9am not far from Arden Park, sending it out to the group so we can keep an eye out.

This morning on Eastern Avenue in Carmichael, a brown pickup with the name of a hauling company on the side backed into the driveway of a home. Two men got out and attempted to enter the house (they did not knock or ring the bell first). A family member of the homeowner was in the house at the time and called out "who's there?" and the two men ran back to the truck and took off.

The Sheriff's Department was called and is investigating.

Theft and Solicitors

May 12, 2011 (sorry for the delay on this one):

Catalytic converter theft, (Raley's parking lot), Marconi and Watt

The catalytic converter from my 03 Nissan Frontier was stolen from the parking lot at (Watt and Marconi) last night around 8:30pm. I was only in the store for about 10 minutes.

(This is the first time I have heard of a “non-toyota” getting a CC stolen) ALL NEWER CARS HAVE CATALYTIC CONVERTERS, BE AWARE.

[Note: All cars have catalytic converters. The newer, larger ones are probably just more desirable.]

12 May 2011 Italian leather parking lot scam, (Bel-air), Arden and Eastern

Yesterday, I was approached by an "Italian guy" in a small SUV at Bel Air on Arden and Eastern who called me over to his vehicle claiming he was high end clothing supplier who was headed back to Italy tomorrow. He gave a cheezy business card that claimed his name was Vincinzo and that he was a seller to major retailers. Immediately recognizing a scam I played dumb to get as much info as possible. This guy was really good, his accent was perfect and spoke enough to play the part with out missing a beat. He said he had a show at Cal Expo in a couple of weeks and needed help unloading some samples so he didn't have to pay to take them back to Italy. He produced several nice looking "REAL" deerskin jackets that he said he could give me, even putting them in a bag. All had matching tags and packaging and everything looked real. Then right on que came the hard luck story. He produced his passport and a rental car reciept and said that if he didn't pay the bill he would lose his job with his company. All he asked was to have me buy one jacket for $1,100. When I said no it became a what will you give me for all the jackets. Once again, this guy was slick. He had me going even though I knew it was a scam. After letting him drag it on I finally broke it off and told the manager. Please be on the look out for this guy because he is going to con somebody good. This is a well known scam and the jackets he sells are pleather and not worth nuch. They look great and feel nice but you can tell by the stiching that they are fakes. You can read more about the scam here:

http://italian-style-clothing.pissedconsumer.com/ga-milano-leather-jacket-scam-20110320227680.html

Holiday Preparedness

Sherrie Carhart, Crime Prevention Specialist asks:

Do you have a list of items that might be stolen?

Is your property protected before you go away for the Memorial Day weekend?

From nearby areas:

2 Teenage Boys Selling Magazines - No ID - Shawnee Ave

Wednesday May 18th at 5:15pm. 2 Teenage boys going through neighborhood saying they were raising funds for school orchestra - one saying he lived down the street. When I asked for ID (showing he was in fact a neighbor) he refused - and got a bit belligerent. The shorter of the two is wearing a green sports jersey; the other taller boy, blond with an orange shirt. When I told them I had to be careful because of several break-ins in the area, they became even ruder...and then left.

The only ID they were will to show was a wallet with a bunch of dollars and a list of magazines they were selling.

Updated:

Neighbor on Hans Engel had similar encounter with guys. When she said she was calling the sheriff they started to run - continuing south on Kenneth and west on Winding Way .

Deputy Weinstock responded to the call (6:45pm); confronted the 2 guys; found them to have criminal records, but no cause to arrest; found a check in their possession that someone used to pay for a subscription.

The Deputy called the person (who had written them a check) and informed her that she had just given out personal information (name, address, phone number, signature and checking account number) to strangers who, in fact, have a criminal record. Please learn from this and do not give checks to strangers.

And from another few streets:

They were just at my house on Kewanee at the end of the street. Said they lived down Hidden Valley and were raising money for Chico State . They also became pushy when I said we don't contribute to solicitors.

Catalytic Converter Theft (2800 block Marilona), Arden Park burglary (cause for concern)

Sometime after 1 AM on 04/29 or 04/30, two catalytic converters were stolen from a newer v-8 Toyota pickup, in the 2800 block of Marilona.

On Monday, 05/01 at approx 12:45 in the afternoon, an older Toyota Camry or Corolla with black spray painted writing (all over the car) ran into a street sign at the east end of Duran Cirand Kings Way. The woman tried to physically remove the signs from the post and when observed returned to the vehicle, and ran over the post lodging it under the vehicle. It finally came loose at Marconi and Carrisa. The vehicle had no plates and an expired temporary registration with the number 2 on it.

AN ARDEN PARK BURGLARY 05/03/2011

05/03/2011, at about 1:45 PM, my friend came home to a burglary in progress. She lives on Arroyo Grande near Berrendo Way. The man was slight build, Caucasian, 5/10” and about 30. His hair was not visible under his Giants cap. He was dressed in black jeans and a black tee shirt. She opened her garage door and saw her TV’s and other items in laundry baskets. She called 911 and waited in the driveway. He ran out her side gate, passed her in the car and headed down Las Pasas, where a witness saw him get into a car. We don’t have any information about the car. She wishes she had run him down, but she stayed to guard her house thinking others might have been inside.

She recognized this man from a previous exchange. Several weeks ago he knocked on her door around noon. She did not open her door but talked to him through a window. He held up a cell phone to show her a picture of a dog, who he said was lost. She said she could not help him and he went away. Her neighbors across the street were robbed that day and he made away with lots of items. These guys are bold. He broke a window in her French doors and came in through her bedroom. Beware, the police think he has been working Arden Park for a year. Don’t open your door to these guys, tell your family not to open the door, call the police as soon as you get a solicitor like this. They are staking out homes and want to know who is home during the day.

If you have any information, questions, or saw anything around the area today, shoot me an email. My friends is trying to get the word out to all neighbors in this area, since they will probably be back. It sounds like the same group that was on Los Molinos earlier this year knocking on doors.