Another "Vandalism on the American River" story

[Jeff Putnam]

Its unfortunate that we cant even enjoy a morning on our local river without some #$%! messing it up. Three cars were broken into this morning around 8:30am-10:00am at the Watt access paring lot and one of them was mine. As I walked to up to see the damage to my car, smashed out the rear side window, stole an emergency roadside kit (orange bag, in case some crack fiend tries to sell it to you, please let me know where they are), a county park worker was sweeping the glass up from all three cars and told me he was there two hours earlier doing the same thing for two other cars that had their windows smashed out. He went on to tell me that break-ins have really increased on the American River lately and some mornings, usually the time when most of the vandalism occurs, they go from access to access and clean up broken glass until the afternoon. He also brought up a good point about the lack of patrolling by park rangers and the local police/sheriff dept. He told me about another group of cars at Rossmore last week that were also broken into. This is getting very old , especially with the price of a yearly access pass at $100. not to mention a window at $200 and the time to have it fixed!
I think some camo clothes and a baseball bat might just do the trick!

[BigOkieWhiteBoy916]

I was in the same boat you are last year. It sucks! I use to be a river rat. Today I find myself not fishing the river as much, always worrying about my car and not enjoying the river like I use to because of it.

Sad part is its probably not going to get any better anytime soon.

[Jeff C.]

Ditto here 2 years ago at Upper Sunrise. I never leave any spare gear in car so all they got were 8-10 CDs. It cost me $300 for the window and a day off from work. It's too bad that a sting couldn't be set up to catch them. Jeff C.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

This has been going on for too many years now.

A long time ago I heard the sheriffs department had written almost no citations or made any arrest on the river.

I can't imagine they are driving up and smashing windows and no one ever catches them?

They use to use something like a big screw driver and spin the door looks with it.

I guess the only thing we can do is leave our doors unlocked and windows part way down?

[Jeff C.]

Bruce did that and they stole his park pass. You told me once "If you park there, you might as well leave you windows down and a 20 dollar bill on the seat."

[Randy B]

Had my truck broken into at Watt about a month ago while shad fishing. Some nice folks were deflating a raft at the unimproved launch when we started and left me a note that they chased off some hispanic guys that were casing my truck as they were leaving. The next evening it was broken into, but the punks didn't take anything other than my buddies keys...must of been scared off.

Spoke to two different Park Rangers about it. One was a real piece of work and didn't seem to care, he just said matter of factly that there are a lot of break-ins on the parkway. The second was very understanding after I expressed my disappointment with the other ranger, and since I added that I am an annual pass holder of that was crummy customer/public service.

I think the camo and baseball bat is a great idea. Let me know when you want to go.

[Scott V]

I have a full camo suit and couple paint ball guns, I am down to take a bite out of crime.

[BigBill]

Bad idea. Crackheads usually carry real guns. They hurt more.

Anyway, it's ridiculous that with an access fee the area doesn't get patrolled. Frequent patrolling should occur in known problem areas, NO? I guess law enforcement doesn't consider it a priority for some reason. It sounds like a sure fire way to catch a criminal. Aren't cops interested in catching criminals anymore these days? Or do they just not want to confront gun toting crack heads like the rest of us?

[captnorm]

First of all, I'm very sorry for all your troubles. My wife's car was broken into and she lost some personal items and her new cell phone. Cost me over $650 for replacement window and cell phone. Called the Antioch Police and they said if I give them my address they would send me a form to fill out, they wouldn't even respond to the scene. Is it just me or do a lot of folks see the local law enforcement officers getting lazy in their jobs? I worked with local and CHP for 39+ years and saw the new hires really, really lacking in abilities! I watched the old timers just give up doing anything also. As a matter of fact I see this happening in a lot of jobs! Where is this world going?

[Phil Synhorst]

I am a yearly pass holder as well. A few years back I had all my windows broken(including sunroof) up at Goethe Park. It was a group of teens that rode in on Light Rail, caused a little trouble and tried to ride out. They were caught, but the DA didn't have enough evidence to convict on anything.

The Park Rangers were pretty eager with my incident, there three of 'em looking for/chasing the kids. I may have gotten lucky with that, it was getting toward closing time, so they were probably just near by.

Emotionally it pisses us off, but logically these are low priority crimes.
The Park Ranger staff is undermanned for the job, and it is "beneath" the Sheriff Dept. Perhaps it is time for us to talk with both agencies. There are quite a few Guides, and many of us local fishermen who use the parkway regularly.