April 5-19: Fair Oaks Car Thief In Custody Days Later

No bailout

A Fair Oaks man didn’t stray too far from home to commit an alleged vehicle burglary April 9.

Sheriff’s officers first spotted the stolen 1999 Mercury Mystique at Arboleda Drive and Sunset Avenue, a little more than two miles from its owner’s residence on New York Avenue. When officers tried to contact the driver, a sheriff’s report states the Mystique sped off.

It didn’t get far, though, said sheriff’s spokesman Deputy Jason Ramos.

“There was virtually no pursuit, because the driver bailed out of the car at Arboleda and Yvonne – just a couple of blocks away, if that,” he said.

The car had crashed at the intersection, and the suspect had briefly escaped. Officers were able to identify the driver as Bryan Scott McRae, 24, of Fair Oaks due to the driver’s license he left behind. Officers also found burglary tools and several car stereos in the stolen vehicle, the sheriff’s report said.

A few days later, McRae was found and arrested in the 5200 block of Sir Lancelot Lane in Fair Oaks. He was arraigned Friday in Sacramento Superior Court on felony counts of vehicle theft and reckless evasion of a peace officer, among other allegations.

Rob local

Two Fair Oaks homes were burglarized within two weeks of one another, sheriff’s officials have reported.

The latest incident occurred around 9 a.m. Tuesday, when an unknown number of suspects stripped valuable copper wire from a 48-year-old woman’s electrical box on the side of her San Juan Avenue residence. The perpetrators fled the scene before anything was seen or heard.

Earlier this month, a 68-year-old Fair Oaks woman’s home was burglarized. On the night of April 5, an unknown number of suspects kicked in her front door and ransacked the residence.

Sheriff’s officials did not detail what was taken from the Arboleda Drive home, nor did they return requests for comment.

A sheriff’s report said no one was seen or heard during the commission of the crime.

When a stranger calls

An 87-year-old Fair Oaks woman was conned out of an undisclosed amount of money earlier this month during a telephone scheme.

Sheriff’s officials didn’t release details of the crime, but said the at-large subjects contacted the Somerville Way resident over the phone the afternoon of April 5 and convinced her to wire and mail cash to them. No arrests have been announced.

A sheriff’s spokesman did not return requests for comment.