News

Updated January 13, 2009 @ 11 am

An alarming robbery incident occurred in broad daylight at the intersection of Duckhorn Drive and Great Egret Way on Thursday, prompting several active WRCA members to express concerns over neighborhood safety.

Capt. Daniel Hahn included the following in his regular e-mail update to the Natomas community:

(7966) 1/8/09 @ 2:35 pm, Great Egret/Duckhorn, Armed Robbery, Gateway West
Victim was driving Northbound on Duckhorn and stopped at the stop sign. The suspect came up to him and put a gun to his head and demanded money. He fled on foot with the stolen money. Suspect was described as male black, 20-30, dark short hair, dark clothing.

He provided the following update on January 13:

The victim was stopped at a stop sign behind a van. When the van pulled off and the victim was going to move forward - the suspect came up from behind the victims car (Victim didn't see where he came from just the direction. The victim's window was open and the suspect demanded the victim's wallet as he pointed a gun at him. As you might imagine - the victim was scared and gave the suspect his wallet. The suspect took money out of the wallet and dropped the wallet. He ran south on Duckhorn and west through Hummingbird park.

This is the same general area as the first in a list of gunpoint home invasion robberies that occurred back in June of last year, also in broad daylight. Thankfully the suspect in that case, Sammie Lee Nichols, was taken into custody two months ago. (According to the Sacramento Superior Court Web site, his preliminary hearing is scheduled for January 21.)

When asked what one should do if robbed, Capt. Hahn advised to follow instincts. “There is no one response that will fit every situation,” he wrote. “But, as a general rule — your life and health are always worth more then money or physical objects such as cell phones. Generally, you should comply with the robber and give him or her anything they want and they will flee.”

He also encouraged residents to step forward and share information they may have with the police. “Robbers don’t stop after one robbery — they continue unless we catch them. Together, not only can we catch robbers, but we can also prevent robberies.”

Robbery incidents were up substantially in North Natomas in 2008 over 2007 while property crimes decreased significantly.

Residents of the Park View and Gateway West neighborhoods are encouraged to:

• Show up. Come to our meetings. Mark your calendars. Meet the Natomas beat police officer assigned to our neighborhood association and ask questions.
• Spread the word about WRCA. Print some copies of our flyer and deliver them to your neighbors.
• Don’t overreact or overcorrect. Stay calm and keep things in perspective. Yes, robberies in North Natomas are at an all time high, and that is completely unacceptable and obviously needs to change. However, it’s single digits almost every month. Out of tens of thousands of residents, the chances of your being a victim are extremely low.
• Prepare for the unlikely unexpected. Consider Capt. Hahn’s advice and figure what you might do in various situations, but try not to dwell on it. Sometimes we worry because we don’t know what we would do, and having a better idea of what we would do helps to alleviate the worry.
• Be alert and report suspicious activity to SacPD’s non-emergency dispatch (916/264-5471). Even if you are wrong (better safe than sorry — always!), you are likely to cause at least a patrol car to roll through our neighborhood, plus a call for service in our neighborhood is tallied. The former is a crime deterrent and the latter bodes well for us in the future — fewer calls for service in an area is interpreted as less need for officers in that area when resources are allocated later.
• Of course, ALWAYS report crimes in progress to SacPD — from a land line, call 9-1-1, and from a cell phone, call 916/732-0100 to bypass CHP.
• Report graffiti sightings to 3-1-1 (or 916/264-5011) for their prompt removal, as per the Broken Window Theory.
• Share your observations with the online group. We have seen many examples of multiple neighbors having the same or similar observations of suspicious people, situations, and circumstances. Some concerns are able to be laid to rest while others result in definitive actions to address and/or abate issues.
• Go for walks and enjoy our parks. The more our neighborhoods are buzzing with community-oriented responsible folks, the less desirable our neighborhoods become for criminals.

Don’t allow the handful of bad guys tarnish your dreams of and investments in our neighborhoods.

Sump 17 got hit hard again by gang graffiti vandals over past two weekends in spite of the city’s fast responses to cover and erase the blight. But residents in the area are taking a strong stance by organizing and sharing information so that they can be more effective in reporting illegal activites happening at the facility.

Residents in the immediate area of Sump 17 “are concerned about what is happening in our neighborhood and want to keep it safe and beautiful,” said one of Witter Ranch Community Alliance’s active members, adding “we are grateful that the city is reacting quickly to the gang graffiti in our park, but we want to take proactive steps to end the drug use, gang graffiti, public sex, etc., that is happening in our [San Juan Reservoir] park.”

Fortunately, messages sent to members of WRCA’s online community are responding to pleas to report graffiti to the city’s “3-1-1″ center as soon as it is discovered, to much success.

The city’s graffiti abatement crew was seen removing some of the graffiti this weekend. “I gave [them] a very enthusiastic thumbs up and showered them with praise and appreciation on behalf of all of us,” one resident wrote.