Man Robbed at Gunpoint By Suspected Car Thieves

Walking into trouble

A Carmichael man out on a midnight stroll through his neighborhood had the misfortune of coming upon a car burglary last week.

According to Sacramento County sheriff’s officials, the 20-year-old male was walking through a residential neighborhood near Barrett Road and Winding Way last Thursday night when he saw a second man, described as a 20-year-old white male with blonde hair, rummaging through a truck parked in the driveway of a house. The suspect exited the truck with some items and got into a silver or gray four-door vehicle parked on the street about two houses down, the Carmichael man later told authorities.

A second suspect, described as a Hispanic male between the ages of 20 and 25, 5-foot-8, 160 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes, was seated in the passenger seat of the vehicle, according to a sheriff's department report.

The report says the suspect vehicle initially drove past the witness before backing up and stopping.

The blonde suspect got out of the driver’s seat and robbed the man of his iPhone at gunpoint, the report says. The victim was forced to the ground as the car drove away.

Deputies later contacted the owner of the truck, who claimed he left the vehicle locked and said the thief must have “broken in somehow,” said department spokesman Dep. Jason Ramos.

The truck owner reported a nylon duffle bag and some tax documentation paperwork missing, Ramos added.

Stolen comfort

Investigators are waiting for some paperwork from an 88-year-old woman whose apartment was broken into a week ago.

The woman, who lives at a complex in the 4500 block of Manzanita Avenue, was visiting a friend at another apartment around 7 p.m. on Sept. 20 when the crime occurred, Ramos said.

An unknown number of subjects forced the woman’s front door open and fled before anything was seen or heard, a department report states.

The victim wasn’t immediately able to tell authorities whether anything was missing. Ramos said she “was left with missing property forms to fill out and submit once a proper inventory of her belongings could be done.”

A few miles north of Carmichael on Sunday, an unknown number of suspects smashed their way through a window at the south end of an Ashcroft Avenue apartment. A large-screen television, child’s electric motorcycle and jewelry were among the items taken from the unoccupied residence before the perpetrators fled the scene.