Howe Avenue Theft 12/30/08

[Kelly Maher]

I wanted to give everyone a heads up...My 2007 Expedition EL and brand new Riverman BoatWorks powder coated trailer (locked to hitch)were stolen Tuesday at Howe Avenue...It appears that they watched us from the bushes and broke in shortly after....Any rate, we got off the water at 4:00 and could obviously see both my vehicle as well as my trailer were gone as we floated around the corner from afar...They spent about 15K on my credit cars as well as my wallet was hidden inside the console. There was purposely very little in the car and nothing in view.

The Parks Department was awesome as Randy and Jane brought the Park's maintenance trailer and we loaded my 14' pontoon boat onto it and they took it to their yard. I came back to Sacrameto the next day and picked up my boat. I had trouble with the reporting as the Sheriff, City, and CHP had a dispute over who's jurisdiction in what is as it is a county park in city limits. Finally, CHP took the report, but then decided later that night to give it back to city, it was therefore not reported stolen for about 24 hours!

A couple of things:
1) The car was returned yesterday with two people in custody and a third that got away by jumping 35 feet into the river somewhere near Sacramento. The car is stripped and nearly totaled.
2) The trailer is still missing and is very distinct as it is powder coated, has low 24" mesh sides, says" Riverman Boatworks" on three sides, and has a rear "roller" which places the pontoon up on top of almost white butcher block type landings that slice into mesh side posts.
3) A two-tone Simms wading jacket (brown/grey) was inside my vehicle, but it is not mine, so it is obviously stolen and I would like to return it.

I just wanted to post this for information, so don't feel a need to tell me "how badly this sucks", etc.
All the best for the New Year and I am relieved this happened in 2008! Tight Lines, Kelly Maher.

[STEELIES/26c3]

This problem has escalated severely in the past year.

It used to be that Rossmoor, El Manto, Olive Access were the three to avoid.

Now, it is pretty much ANY access to the AR which is unsafe.

I know most of the county rangers and I'm impressed by the vigilance of only two of them and one is the superintendent who unfortunately is not in the field much these days.

I have been hit twice in 6 weeks and my only losses were:

break in #1 (cigarettes)
break in #2 (battery charger for cell phone)

I have been taking it upon myself to find and cripple the perpetrators.

I'm glad you got your rig back and that 2 were/are in custody.
Unfortunately, for every 1 caught, there are 10 more on the loose.

Heaven help us both when I find one of these dogs for I'll value his life less than that of a squawfish.

M

[Terry Thomas]

Kelly,
Sorry to hear about the loss of your equipment. With econimic times, I don't see things getting better from a safety point. I will say that I have seen more patrol on the parkway than I ever have. Last Saturday at Watt Ave. I saw two city officers on motorcycles come by while we were rigging up and shortly after a parkway officer come by. When we were leaving, @2 p.m. there were two vehicles screwing around trying to test their 4wd in the rocks under the bridge and up the road. One of them started to do "brodies" under the bridge, throwing rocks all over! At the same time a white pickup came down the parkway road...red and blue lights flashed and had the guy out of the vehicle in short time. Within ten minutes there were two other backup parkway officers on scene to back up the activity. They can't can't get all of the "screw-ups", but every once in a while they do get lucky.
Terry

[speyfool]

I know you didn't necessarily need to hear a "sorry". But man, I cant help it. That is horrible. This is unfortunately one of the biggest reasons I don't go to the American that often. And when I do, I'm careful to park in a neighborhood where it is hopefully less likely to be a victim. Unfortunately, if you are towing a boat, this isn't really an option.

[Fats]

I was very aware of all the "eyes" that were watching my wife and I rig up at Howe Ave the other day... It made me un-easy to say the least. I tend to keep way to much crap in my truck anyway. I'm going to try to learn from your mistake. I'm glad they caught two of the SOB's that were involved... hopefully the insurance takes care of you.

Good luck!

[Dustin Revel]

hopefully the third guy hit his head on a rock on the way down

[mr. 3 wt.]

. This is unfortunately one of the biggest reasons I don't go to the American that often.

Me too! Maybe a sting operation should be setup or something. It wouldn't take long for word to get out after a few scumbags get apprehended.

I guess I could leave my dogs in the cab (one is a pitbull) even though they are super friendly but the scumbags don't know that.

[Pez]

The problem is that this scam bugs are back on the street within a few days. They do not fear the law and that is why they are repeat offenders. We all know what they deserve!!!. Word of mouth works wonders, and if several of these guys got a good dose "of the right medicine", it wouldn't take long before they left somebody's else property alone. Guarantee!!!
The only way to correct this problems is through "sting operations". How many are done and how efective are they? These are questions I would like to know.I used to fish the american twice a week, nowdays cero!!. The big loosers.....Sac businesses.

[wjorg]

.....and people give Islamic law a hard time for suggesting things like cutting off thieves hands...


Im telling you, plant a dummy car and imprint Louisville Slugger backwards on someones forehead........

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Sorry for your lose Kelly..........that is very upsetting to hear.

We have had this same problem for the 40+ years I have been involved in fishing tackle sales on the Lower American River.

We have tried to think of all kinds of precaution we can all take to keep from having these terrible occurances.

I actually had my 'almost new' Ford Explorer stole right from the parking lot at the shop while I was working, some years back.