Crime Blotter June 6-13: Charges Not Filed Against Man Accused of Choking Girlfriend

Gross behavior

According to online court records, no formal charges have been filed against a Carmichael man arrested June 9 for allegedly beating up his girlfriend.

Sacramento County sheriff’s deputies responded to the Madison Avenue residence of Kevin Gross, 43, whose 29-year-old girlfriend said had become violent during an argument earlier this month at the home. According to the department’s summary report of the incident, the girlfriend said Gross choked her and slammed her down several times.

Deputies noted fresh bruising to the victim’s neck and arms, the report said.

Gross had fled the scene, but was arrested upon his return on charges of domestic battery and petty theft, for reportedly taking the victim’s car keys. A parole hold was also placed on Gross, the report said.

As of Wednesday, Gross had already gone to court, said sheriff’s spokesman Dep. Jason Ramos, but it didn’t appear any formal charges had been filed against him in Sacramento Superior Court.

That is not unusual, as law enforcement officials say the requirements for making an arrest and taking a domestic violence case to court are markedly different.

To make a domestic violence-related arrest, Ramos says an officer either needs to be able to note a visible injury or a victim who alleges an attack.

Paul Durenberger, supervisor of the county District Attorney’s Office’s domestic violence unit, says physical evidence like photos, medical reports, recorded 911 calls and original statements is key in being able to prosecute a domestic violence cases, especially since victims recanting their statements is so prevalent.

“A lot of our victims recant,” said Durenberger, who estimated that roughly 80 percent of victims recant in cases the DA’s office goes through with.

Durenberger estimates his office files official charges in about half the domestic violence arrests law enforcement makes.

“We encourage law enforcement agencies to send over every case, because we want to be the ones to make the determination,” he said.

Cases that don’t typically meet the criteria for prosecution include ones involving pushing with little to no injury, mutual combat cases, and little or non-injury disputes in which a divorce is pending. As for the Gross arrest, the DA’s office wouldn’t comment on specific cases.

Deteriorating Goodwill

The Goodwill Store in Carmichael was vandalized last week by an unknown number of suspects, the sheriff’s department reported.

Around 12:45 a.m. on June 8, someone threw a rock through the front glass doors and entered the Manzanita Avenue shop, according to a summary report of the event. The intruder forced entry into an interior office and went through drawers, but it was unclear if anything was taken.

“There was no definitive description of what property, if any, was missing,” Ramos said. “The drawers had all been ‘ransacked,’ according to the responding employee.”

One stop shopping

From stolen gas to selling pot.

Security guards at Mercy San Juan Hospital in Carmichael detained a man in the parking lot for possibly siphoning gas from vehicles last week. But when the authorities arrived, they found more than just a transparent tube in the trunk of 24-year-old Eldon Hales’ vehicle.

According to a summary report of the June 6 incident, sheriff’s deputies conducting a probation search of the car also found a digital scale in the center console and marijuana in three separate containers throughout the vehicle. “Pay owe sheets” were also found, the report states.

Hales was arrested for possession of marijuana for sale and his vehicle was towed.