Crime Watch: Suspected Car Burglars Arrested, More

Suspected Car Burglar Duo Arrested

At 1:47 a.m. March 20, a resident in the Puebla Way/Hildalgo Circle area noticed an unknown person rummaging through a neighbor's vehicle. He called Roseville Police.   Officers arrived in the area within minutes and detained two suspects.  They had tax documents, a checkbook and other items taken from an unlocked car on Hildalgo Circle.  A 24-year-old Roseville man and a 40-year-old Antelope man were arrested on suspicion of stolen property, theft and other related charges.

Two Men Arrested for Possession of Burglar’s Tools

At 12:34 a.m. on March 17, an officer stopped a car in the 900 block of Washington Boulevard for an equipment violation. Finding that one of the occupants was on probation, the officer conducted a probation search on the vehicle and found syringes and devices used to unlock the security tags on store merchandise.  A 20-year-old North Highlands woman was arrested for possession of burglar's tools, and a 49-year-old North Highlands man was arrested for possession of drug paraphernalia.

Attempted Robbery of Gas Station Convenience Store

At 4:41 a.m. on March 17, a man entered a gas station convenience store in the 8600 block of Auburn Boulevard and demanded money from the cashier, striking the cashier on the arm with a police-style baton. The suspect, who acted disoriented as if he was high on drugs, left without taking anything. The suspect was described as a white male in his early 20s, 5'9" tall, 150 pounds, wearing black rimmed eyeglasses, a black hooded sweatshirt, gray sweatpants and black and white athletic shoes. He was last seen walking south on Auburn Boulevard into Citrus Heights.

Copper Theft:

At about 3:50 p.m. on March 14, a citizen interrupted someone trying to steal copper wire from an air conditioning unit in the 300 block of Judah Street.  The suspect fled in a red pickup.  Officers responded and checked the area, but were unable to find the suspect.  The suspect was a white male, 25-30 years old, 5'11" tall and 185 pounds, with brown hair.  He was wearing a black baseball cap, black hooded sweatshirt and brown shorts, and had a tattoo on his right lower leg.

‘Secret Shopper’ Scam Alert

Last week a resident fell victim to a fraudulent "secret shopper" Internet scam.

According to Roseville Police, she applied online for a position with "shop101" as a secret shopper. A few days later, the "employer" mailed her a cashier's check for nearly $2,000, telling her to deposit it, keep a portion of it and to wire money for the remainder to an address in the Philippines. The cashier's check bounced because it was counterfeit and the victim lost the money she spent on a money gram to the Philippines.

According to Roseville Police, there are many versions of this scam. Ff you've ever recieved an email from a wealthy, persecuted Nigerian who needs your help moving millions of dollars into the country, you've probably seen it.  There were some common red flags here, including a "work from home" job with an unknown employer, the generous advance payment for no work (anytime something sounds too good to be true, it is), and the request to wire money to an overseas address.  One you've wired money and it's picked up on the other end, it's gone — you can't get it back.

Commercial Burglaries:

At about 3 p.m. on March 14, two men went into a restaurant in the Brickyard Shopping Center, Foothills and Main. While one man distracted the cashier, the other stole a candy box containing a small amount of cash from the cash register area.  Both of the suspects were white males in their 20s or 30s.  One was approximately 5'10" tall with a heavy build and black hair.  He wore a red beanie cap, a black jacket and had a red "hickey" on the side of his neck.  The other was described only as about 5'10" tall and slim.

At about 12:30 a.m. on March 14, someone burglarized a florist shop in the 1000 block of Sunrise Avenue, taking the cash drawer, which fortunately contained only a small amount of cash.  There was no sign of forced entry.

At 3:45 a.m. on March 16, someone smashed a glass window and burglarized a gas station on Whyte Avenue, taking two cash registers.

Attempted commercial burglary — At 10:30 p.m. on March 17, officers responded to an audible alarm at a stationery store in the 1800 block of Douglas Boulevard. Officers determined that someone had tried to break in, but didn't make entry to the business.

Suspect Turns on Hose Near Business, Causes Damage

Overnight on March 15/16, an unknown suspect turned on a hose near the entrance to a business in the 1000 block of Douglas Boulevard, causing water damage inside.

Residential Burglaries:

Tuesday, March 6

Between March 6 and 13, someone went into the backyard of a vacant house on Parkview Drive and stole a motorized pool sweep.

Monday, March 12

Attempted residential burglary — Between March 12 and 14, someone took the screens off the bedroom windows of a home on Carpenter Way. No entry was made and nothing was taken.

Overnight on March 12/13, someone cut a padlock, went into the backyard of an unoccupied home in the 2300 block of Corin Drive, and took appliances from the outdoor kitchen.

Friday, March 16

Possible attempted residential burglary — At about noon on March 16, a resident of an apartment in the 700 block of Gibson Drive heard a noise and saw the door handle of her front door move, as if someone was trying to pick the lock. She screamed, and the door handle motion stopped. No suspects were seen.

Saturday, March 17

Attempted residential burglary — At 3:27 a.m. on March 17, someone unscrewed a front porch light, then kicked the front door of a house in the 1100 block of Kris Way. Perhaps realizing that someone was home, the unknown suspect left without going into the house or taking anything.

Between 7:30 and 10:30 p.m. on March 17, someone entered an apartment in the 1100 block of Conroy Lane by forcing open a sliding glass door, taking TVs, electronic items, jewelry, cash and other items. 

Vehicle-Related Crime:

Between March 7 and 14, someone forced entry to a detached apartment garage at 10001 Woodcreek Oaks Blvd. and took two Honda motorcycle/dirt bikes and a bicycle.

Overnight on March 8/9, someone stole a hub cap from a Chevy pickup parked in the 400 block of Clinton.

Overnight on March 11/12, someone siphoned gasoline from a van parked in the 3100 block of Littleton Lane.

Overnight on March 11/12 someone broke the windows of a pickup parked in a driveway in the 600 block of Hanisch Drive, and took the in-dash stereo and speakers.

Overnight on March 11/12, thieves stole items from two vehicles in the 600 block of Twinwood Loop.  They broke the window of one vehicle and took the stereo faceplate, and entered an unlocked pickup and took an iPod.

Between 1 and 6 a.m. on March 12, someone broke into a car in the 100 block of San Juan Ave., taking the in-dash stereo.

Overnight on March 12/13, someone went into an unlocked pickup in the 1500 block of Ledbury Street, took the garage remote and opened the garage door.  At that point they may have gotten scared off, because nothing was taken from the garage. Tools were stolen from the bed of a truck parked outside.

Overnight on March 12/13, someone broke into locked tool boxes in a work truck parked in the 1500 block of Derrylin Drive, and took several power tools.

Between 4:30 and 5 p.m. on March 13, a purse was stolen from a locked car in a fitness center in the 1200 block of Pleasant Grove.

Overnight on March 16/17, a thief went into an unlocked vehicle on Pilgrims Drive and took a student's backpack, books, and other items.

A tip from Roseville Police: For the past several weeks, thieves had had great luck finding unlocked vehicles to steal from in the Foothills-Junction neighborhood at night. Don't let your car be one of them.  Park in your locked garage if possible, and if not, lock your car and remove all your valuables, including your garage remote.

Between 6 and 10 p.m. on March 17, someone smashed the window of a car parked in the 1100 block of Fairfield Avenue, taking a purse and its contents.

Overnight March 17/18, someone burglarized a locked car parked on Kensington Drive near Tanzania Drive, taking a purse, credit cards and other items.

Overnight on March 17/18, someone smashed the windshield of a car parked in the 400 block of Berkeley Avenue.

Between 1:50 and 2 p.m. on March 18, someone smashed the window of a car parked in the Brickyard Shopping Center and took a make-up bag. A witness saw the break-in and provided the victim with a license plate number of the suspect vehicle, but no further information about the suspect or the vehicle description.  The unknown witness left the area before officers arrived. Unfortunately, the license plate number didn't match any current vehicles in DMV's database.  If the witness had also provided a vehicle description, we could have done a better search of DMV's database looking for a certain type of vehicle with a similar-looking license number.

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