First, I have some good news to report today. On a positive note, police officers brought in 13 Natomas area truants last week. According to Sac PD: “Most of them [were] taken to the Inderkum Attendance Center where there are community based organizations/social workers that attempt to get to the root cause of a students truancy.” Officers also arrested several suspects for recent armed robberies in the Natomas area. Kudos to police for their efforts to stem the recent tide of crime that has hit the area.
Never the less, while the volume of crimes have decreased in recent days, the brazenness of criminals continues to intensify. Take for example this armed robbery of a hapless Craigslist.com car seller who was robbed at gunpoint in South Natomas while his 3 year old child looked on..
(371803) 11/20/08 @ 4:10 pm, 1990 San Juan (Woodbridge Apts), Robbery, S. Natomas
Victim advertised his car on Craig’s List. He was to meet a possible buyer at the Woodbridge Apartments. He had his 3 yr. old child with him. Suspect #1 approached (Male Black Adult 22-23 yrs, 6′2″, 275, t-shirt and jeans with dreadlocks) and started talking about price. He went back to his truck and returned with suspect #2 (male black 21 yrs, 5′8″, 160 lbs, black hooded sweatshirt w/ purple striping, short hair). Susp. #2 pulled a gun on the victim and took his money and cell phone. They walked back to their truck and left. The truck is described as a White F-150 Extended Cab Truck with a White lumber rack.
Also, multiple businesses have been burglarized/vandalized in the past week. Here is the recent list from Sac PD/ “Business Burglaries, from 11/19 to 11/ 22, Northgate/Gardenland area:”
*(371121) 11/19/08 @ 9:39 pm, 3408 Northgate (Goodyear)
Suspects broke the glass on the roll up door. They rifled through the business but doesn’t appear to have taken anything.
*(372218) 11/21/08 @ 12:08 am, 3500 Northgate (El Pollo Loco)
Suspects pushed the drive thru window off its track and entered the business. They broke open the cash drawer but there wasn’t any money in it. They attempted to open the cash registers but couldn’t get them open. The suspect description was two male black subjects, 16-18 yrs. One was wearing a black zipper jacket with a white t-shirt wrapped around his hand and another t-shirt covering his head and face.
*(373454) 11/22/08 @ 4:25 am, 3554 Northgate (Les Schwab Tires)
Suspects broke rear glass door with a rock. They rummaged through numerous drawers but didn’t appear to have taken anything.
Hey give them criminals a break! They just want to buy some weed for the holidays you jerk!
I can’t believe the above the post. To be a victim of a crime is a horrible experience. Once I was in 7-ll. A youth was walking in behind me. He held the door open so I could walk in first. I thought he was being polite. I was in the back of the store and through the mirror I noticed the youth and another one in the store had a gun pulled on the cashier and demanded money from the drawer. My son who was then 12 was sitting in the car. I was parked right in front of the store. It was about 7:30pm. I was so scared my son would enter the store. The robbers then forced the others standing in the store to empty their pockets. People were nervous, scared, dropping their money on the floor. I snuck towards the window and motion for my son to stay in the car… The robber turned and looked at me and I was scared out of my mind. But strange thing is he didn’t rob me. I was the only one in the store who was not robbed and I was so glad. I had just got paid and had my bill money on me. The police arrived later and asked me why I wasn’t robbed. I had no idea. I guess God was watching over me so I would one day fight as a youth advocate… But my point is I never forgot the pain of thinking the armed robber would harm me and it is a pain that deserves more than the above comment. The victims deserve solutions. The youth (it appears a great deal of crime in Natomas is committed by youth) deserve resources…and deserve to be held accountable for their actions. Awareness is key and due to this site more will become aware. I have a question, that just came to mind, do you have this in hard copy form? Can it be distributed to the many low income housing areas… Perhaps if more knew of this crime fighting tool some would be less subject to committing these acts? So often anti-crime bills… they don’t reach the people at risk of committing crimes. How can they prevent or be a deterrent if those at risk of committing offenses are not aware of it. I think this information should go beyond your site. If the people aren’t on the board–then take it to them. Just a thought. Great job Joe on keeping the people informed.
Oh, in case it is not understood I was so glad I was not robbed but I felt and seen the pain of those who were. I saw their fear.. I later had my car stolen, my home broken into, my son robbed at gunpoint twice… so I do know how it feels to be a victim and I DO CERTAINLY sympathize with all victims of crime.
Rhonda as always you raise great questions. I think it is safe to say that people don’t know what to do . They are getting their neighborhood watch associations all nice and tight and they’re staffing resource centers and volunteering their precious time but the hits just keep on coming
By the way I was being facetious. Joe is sometimes attacked here for reporting crimes as if he were some sort of jerk for wanting to make his community aware of what was going on so I was being sarcastic. Sorry about that
Thanks for keeping us informed, Joe.
Dear Joe,
Our son will be attending Sac State in Jan. 2009. My wife and I have been looking at buying a place for our him in the Westlake Villas (4800 Westlake Parkway) development. After reading all the crime reports on your website, I am very concerned about making this purchase as you paint a very gloomy landscape of the Natomas area when crime is concerned.
Any and all input from you and your readers would be most appreciated. Many thanks.
Sac State, there is always the “glass half full” vs “glass half empty” perspectives. Some would say I have a “half empty” perspective. There are legions of people whose heads are in the sand who will say “Natomas is awesome!” But where do they live? In Natomas. Many of them are in jobs whose livelihood depends on the area being attractive to newcomers. Heather Fargo would tell you Natomas is awesome. Ray Tretheway the council person here would tell you Natomas is the best darn community in Sacramento. I know association leaders who would tell you Natomas is the best area in Sac and that anyone who says otherwise is lying.
But then if you were to talk to the waves of families that have moved out of the area, or ones that live here who are driving their kids to schools across town every day because they don’t trust the Natomas school district with their kids, or to the many many victims of violent crimes here including those who have been robbed at gun point, raped, home invaded, etc, they will have a very different story about Natomas, particularly those who gave up and moved out of the area.
THERE IS CRIME IN NATOMAS, JUST AS THERE IS CRIME IN EVERY CITY. Is it as bad as Del Paso Heights? No, not in North Natomas (South Natomas is a different story).Is it worse than Rocklin, Roseville, midtown, east sac? Yes. Some parts are worse than others. While the cops work their tales off to prevent it from becoming another Oakland, across Sacramento the violent crime rate is 1,130 violent crimes per 100,000 people and that is second to only Oakland. The good news is that crime is DOWN from its high in 2006 from a staggering 1,350 violent crimes per 100,000 and according to some people, the police are making major strides in making Sacramento safer. personally, I disagree. YES< there are “worse” neighborhoods as the cops will tell you, but YES, there are also a lot better neighborhoods.
In closing, I’d be remiss if I didn’t say the Westlake neighborhood you are looking at is excellent. None of the crimes I have reported on in the past 6 months have occurred there. They seem to be immune to it. Interesting how they don’t have low income housing there, too (not that there’s a relationship!!) I seriously doubt anyone from Westlake even reads this site. Most of my readers are those who don’t see life with such rose-colored lens—–as far as I know.
Best of luck
Also, check the crime mapper here: http://crimemap.scoopytube.com/crimemap/map.html#
I put in Westlake Parkway and searched within 1 mile since Jan 1 of this year and it returns ~200 crimes.
I ran another one within one mile of my home in North Natomas and there were 580. I ran one within two miles and there were 2,276
As I always say “Your mileage may vary”
I think the numbers prove there is HALF the crime in Westlake area as there is where I live in North Natomas. Then again, I have a fire station within one mile and Westlake is a looooooong way away from one.
Natomas is truly a crapshoot if you aask me
One more thing, MELLO ROOS and FLOOD INSURANCE requirements make Natomas a VERY pricey real estate proposition. Plus I imagine your HOA will be upwards of $300 per mo..? Natomas is pricey.. and you get very little for your money except access to downtown and the freeways
Thank you for all your input and insight, Joe. It’s most helpful. Question: Why don’t you move out of the area if it is such a horrible place?
I wouldn’t call it “horrible” by an stretch. I count my blessings every day. I could live in Mumbai. I’m just saying there are better places to live and if I could do it over again, had I known how much inclusionary housing they were going to put here, had I known about the flood risk, I wouldn’t buy here again. The housing market keeps us from moving. We are so upside down on our house we’re stuck here for many years. We’ll make the best of it and keep making noise until the city does something about it.
Thanks for dropping in and good luck
More thuggery right under our noses…
http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/crime/archives/017527.html
[...] area simply because the number of thugs and scumbags out number police. JoeSacramento has a great post on the thuggery in Natomas. The SacBee has a great article outlining how citizens and [...]
Thanks for all the heads up…i’m a new reader…and feel as you all do about our area…I too live in North Natomas…mind you we’ve been lucky (knocking wood) not to have any hiccups…which is safe to say and again…with all these budget cuts, i’m glad we have the 2nd amendment to help hold the ‘thugs’ off until police arrive…keep up the good reporting and happy new years…