May 23-30: Chronic Drunk in Trouble Again

Repeat offender

A local drunk was at it again last Wednesday night, when sheriff’s deputies found him heavily intoxicated outside of a Fair Oaks grocery store.

Lawrence Dhanes, 69, of Sacramento was found sitting outside the Dewey Drive Safeway in Fair Oaks a little after 8 p.m., May 25. Dhanes, “a known, chronic and habitual drunk,” was found reeking of alcohol and unable to walk steadily, according to a report from the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department.

Dhanes, who has been arrested 37 times for public intoxication since July 24, 2010, was medically evaluated at the scene by fire personnel before being taken to jail “because he could not reasonably care for his own welfare,” the report said.

Dhanes was booked on two public drunkenness charges, including one related to the state’s habitual offender law, said department spokesman Deputy Jason Ramos.

“If someone has been arrested a certain number of times within a specified timeframe for public intoxication, the law says that they are a ‘habitual offender’ and are required to serve 90 days in jail, rather than being released upon attaining a level of sobriety,” Ramos explained.

Online sale a drag

A woman attempting to sell an iPad through Craigslist got taken for a ride — literally.

The 22-year-old iPad seller met her prospective buyers in an In-N-Out Burger parking lot a few miles west of Fair Oaks last Wednesday night. The buyers — identified in a sheriff’s department report as Alexandria Klemmgreene, 23, of Sacramento and Anna James, 20, of Modesto — asked to take a look at the popular tablet to make sure it worked, according to Ramos.

The two women were still sitting in their car when the victim handed over the tablet she was selling for $420.

“She started to get nervous, so she went to grab the money that one of the occupants was holding (showing her that they really had cash),” Ramos explained. “When the victim went to reach into the car to get the money, they rolled up the window and took off.”

Klemmgreene had closed the window on the victim’s hand, dragging her for a short while in the parking lot before the victim was able to pry herself loose and rolled onto the roadway. The sheriff’s report says the victim was transported to Mercy San Juan Hospital for treatment of a cut to her forehead and several abrasions she sustained in the fall.

A California Highway Patrol officer intercepted the suspect vehicle at Antelope Road and Auburn Boulevard, discovering Klemmgreene’s young daughter in the backseat during the two women’s arrest on separate charges of robbery.

It appeared the daughter was not in the car at the time of the robbery, as the victim was able to give officers a detailed description of the suspects but didn’t say anything about a child being in the backseat.