A California Highway Patrol task force this month arrested 13 people and recovered over $800,000 in stolen merchandise in connection with an organized retail theft ring that operated across Northern California.
The CHP Valley Division’s Organized Retail Crime Task Force, which includes investigators from the Sacramento Police Department and the Placer County District Attorney’s Office, was alerted in September to a pair of retail theft suspects operating in Placer County and at multiple other locations throughout the state, the agency said in a press release.
On October 1, the Rocklin Police Department located the suspects with help from the Valley Division ORCTF. The suspects identified others who were purchasing stolen merchandise from them and reselling it for profit at flea markets in Oakland, San Jose, Galt, Modesto and Stockton, the CHP said.
Investigators used information provided by the suspects to conduct surveillance operations and establish links among the theft suspects, the stolen merchandise buyers and resellers, and the flea-market locations, the CHP said. Search warrants were obtained for six homes, three storage lockers, and one storage lot.
Evidence seized during the CHP’s “Operation Silent Night” targeting an organized retail theft ring.
California Highway Patrol
On December 11, the CHP said multiple law enforcement agencies conducted Operation Silent Night, executing warrants in Oakland, Richmond, San Leandro, and Galt. The operation resulted in 13 arrests and the seizure of over 400 boxes and 200 bags of stolen merchandise, along with two firearms, more than $10,000 in cash, five vans, two passenger vehicles, and two trailers, the CHP said.
The stolen merchandise included cosmetics, household goods, clothing, power tools, toys, alcohol, and diapers. The day after the raids, Cal Expo provided an exposition hall to help investigators process and catalog the recovered merchandise, which amounted to 44,140 stolen items valued in excess of $800,000.
A Cal Expo warehouse with recovered evidence from an alleged organized retail theft ring.
California Highway Patrol
The following suspects were taken to the Placer County Jail for booking. They were identified as:
Isaid Garcia Chapas, 41, Oakland
Irene Cruz Barragan, 35, Oakland
Daniela Cruz Barragan, 33, Oakland
Robert Lorenzo Luna-Varela, 34, Oakland
Jefferson Isaed Garcia-Rivera, 22, Oakland
Jennifer Garcia Cruz, 19, Oakland
Elan Rosales Montes, 35, Oakland
Claudia Ivet Cruz Barragan, 42, Oakland
Yolanda Carrillo Martinez, 45, Oakland
Ivan Miranda Espinoza, 33, Oakland
Bach Ngoc Thi Bui, 53, El Sobrante
Yuridia Sandoval Ramirez, 35, Oakland
Eryn Wilfred Corea Guevara, 29, Oakland
“Organized retail theft is not a victimless crime. It impacts businesses, workers, and communities across California,” said CHP Valley Division Chief Tyler Eccles in a prepared statement. “This investigation highlights the strength of collaboration between law enforcement and our retail partners, and our commitment to holding organized theft networks accountable.”
Governor Gavin Newsom established the CHP’s Organized Retail Crime Task Force in 2019 to target sophisticated theft rings, beginning in Southern California before expanding to the San Francisco Bay Area and other parts of the state. In 2021, Newsom signed Assembly Bill 331, which permanently extended the task force and gave the CHP more authority to coordinate regional property crime efforts.
According to the CHP, since the ORCTF’s inception in 2019, the agency has been involved in over 4,200 investigations, with over 4,700 suspects arrested and the recovery of nearly 1.5 million stolen goods valued at over $68.7 million statewide as of November 30.
Gov. Hochul pictured Wednesday at the Brooklyn Made in Downtown Brooklyn.
Photo courtesy of Gov. Hochul’s Office
Retail theft in New York City has dropped 13.6% year-over-year, Gov. Kathy Hochul said Wednesday, as the State Police Organized Retail Theft Task Force recovered more than $2.6 million in stolen goods since expanding operations in April 2024.
Speaking in Downtown Brooklyn on Nov. 19 ahead of the holiday shopping season, Hochul said small businesses continue to feel the effects of years of heightened shoplifting and organized theft. “When I first became governor, there was a spike in retail theft,” Hochul said. “I walked the streets in Brooklyn and Queens and saw firsthand how it was paralyzing for small businesses.”
Last year, Hochul introduced a $40 million package of sweeping measures to combat rising retail theft statewide. The initiative created retail-focused anti-theft teams for police, increased penalties for anyone who assaults retail workers, and established a $5 million tax credit to help small businesses invest in security upgrades such as cameras and theft-prevention devices.
The legislation followed years of escalating theft. Crime data show larceny offenses in NYC rose 51% between 2017 and 2023, while robberies, grand larceny, and petit larceny collectively increased 86% during the same period.
The State Police task force, made up of 100 dedicated personnel working alongside local law enforcement and district attorneys, has conducted more than 1,000 operations in the city and surrounding areas, Hochul said. Those efforts have resulted in 1,224 arrests and 2,146 criminal charges over the last year.
State Police Superintendent Steven James said Wednesday that the decline in theft is encouraging but added that the impact of these crimes extends beyond financial losses. “Retail theft inflicts distress on business owners, workers and patrons,” he said.
Hochul urged New Yorkers to support small businesses during the holidays, saying the decrease in theft helps store owners stay afloat amid broader economic uncertainties. “We want people to feel comfortable walking into stores and supporting the real people behind them,” she said.
For the family that runs Kim Hung Jewelry in San Jose, Sep. 5 is a day they’ll never forget.
What was once a thriving shop now sits boarded up, a reminder of the smash-and-grab robbery that changed everything. The family said 10 people stormed their San Jose store, after a stolen Jeep rammed into the storefront.
Surveillance video shows the suspects smashing display cases and grabbing whatever they could before fleeing. During the chaos, the family’s 88-year-old uncle, the man who built and ran the business, was shoved to the ground.
“It’s very sudden, and it’s very panicked,” said one family member, who agreed to speak but asked not to share her name. “You cannot imagine this happening to you.”
Since then, the store has been closed its entrance covered with plywood and steel gates. The family said they’re still paying rent and expenses while they wait for the insurance process to move forward.
“The business is closed. But we still pay rent. We still pay for everything in the store. You can’t not pay, right?” she said.
Her uncle remains at home recovering. Family members have urged him not to return once the shop reopens, worried the trauma runs deeper than the visible damage.
“His health is getting better, but he’s still traumatized,” she said.
(Clockwise from top left) Angel Herrera, Toddisha Mayfield, Zakhari Blue-Gordon, Tom Donegan, Jacques Samuel, Cisco Lutu, Amari Green and Julian Gacutan, who are suspected in a Sep. 5, 2025 smash-and-grab robbery at Kim Hung Jewelry in San Jose.
San Jose Police Department
Police said they are still searching for at least two more suspects connected to the case.
For the family, the arrests bring only limited comfort. The store remains shuttered… the damage still visible, the pain still raw.
“When I look at it, I just get more sad,” she said. “I get more frustrated, and I just ask, why?”
The family says their hope is to reopen in the next few months. Until then, they say they’ll keep speaking out not for attention, but to remind others that even when the cameras leave and the crime tape comes down, the healing takes much longer.
“So please,” she said. “Don’t do it. Go to school. Have a successful life. This is not a life.”
A Twin Cities delivery driver is accused of stealing thousands of dollars’ worth of packages from customers, according to charges filed in Hennepin County.
The 25-year-old man from Minneapolis was charged Wednesday with one count of felony theft by swindle.
Charging documents say the man was the delivery driver for more than $16,000 in merchandise listed as delivered that was reported missing by customers.
Minneapolis police responded to a report of a suspected package theft involving a delivery driver on Aug. 18 and learned about the delivery driver who had been involved in several incidents where packages marked as delivered were never received by purchasers.
Charges say in one incident, a Target employee purchased a vacuum cleaner that they never received, despite it being reported delivered. The employee obtained surveillance video that allegedly showed the delivery driver taking a picture to confirm the delivery before leaving with the package.
Additionally, staff at an apartment building in downtown Minneapolis notified Target that a large number of empty shipping boxes from the retailer were found in the building’s garbage, addressed to various places throughout the Twin Cities metro, according to charges.
Target was able to use the information from the packages to determine who the delivery driver for them had been and saw they had all been marked as delivered but reported missing by customers.
Officers learned that the delivery driver was a resident of the apartment building where all the empty boxes were found, charges say. Surveillance footage from the building showed him disposing of Target packages at least 27 separate times between July 25 and Sept. 17. He was also seen multiple times moving boxes or specific items consistent with the packages he reportedly delivered.
While executing a search warrant at the man’s apartment on Oct. 2, officers found more than $6,000 in stolen merchandise, including multiple vacuums and smart TVs.
If convicted, the delivery driver could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison.
An eighth suspect has been arrested in connection with a smash-and-grab robbery at a San Jose jewelry store that left the store’s elderly owner injured, authorities announced Thursday.
According to San Jose police, detectives identified 19-year-old Julian Gacutan of South San Francisco as a suspect in the Sep. 5 robbery at Kim Hung Jewelry on Aborn Road. Warrants for his arrest and a search warrant for his home were obtained.
With the assistance of the San Ramon Police Department, Gacutan was arrested in Oakland on Oct. 3 without incident.
Julian Gacutan, a suspect in a Sep. 5, 2025 smash-and-grab robbery at Kim Hung Jewelry in San Jose, was arrested in Oakland on Oct. 3, 2025.
San Jose Police Department
“I said it before and I’ll say it again: hiding behind a mask in a crowd of thugs will not shield you from accountability,” San Jose assistant police chief Brian Shab said in a statement. “This additional arrest proves that your temporary flight from justice won’t stop us from finding you and arresting you.”
According to officers, at least 10 people forced entry into the jewelry store by ramming a vehicle through the front door. Once inside, a suspect brandished a firearm at a man, while an elderly man was violently assaulted.
The elderly victim, identified as the store’s 88-year-old owner, suffered a stroke during the incident. He was hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries and has since returned home to recover.
Kim Hung Jewelry
Police said the suspects stole thousands of dollars’ worth of items before leaving the scene in multiple vehicles.
At the time, police said seven suspects were arrested during an operation that involved more than 100 officers from multiple agencies and four different SWAT teams. Arrests were made in communities throughout the region, including Dublin, Pacifica, San Leandro, San Jose, Manteca and Antioch.
(Clockwise from top left) Angel Herrera, Toddisha Mayfield, Zakhari Blue-Gordon, Tom Donegan, Jacques Samuel, Cisco Lutu and Amari Green, who are suspected in a Sep. 5, 2025 smash-and-grab robbery at Kim Hung Jewelry in San Jose.
San Jose Police Department
The previously arrested suspects are identified as 21-year-old Angel Herrera of Pacifica, 31-year-old Toddisha Mayfield of San Leandro, 23-year-old Zakhari Blue-Gordon of East Palo Alto, 19-year-old Tom Donegan of Manteca, 18-year-old Jacques Samuel of San Francisco, 18-year-old Cisco Luti of South San Francisco and 21-year-old Amari Green of San Francisco.
“With this latest arrest, we are one step closer to ensuring every single person involved in this cowardly crime faces the consequences of their actions,” San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan said Thursday.
All suspects have been booked into the Santa Clara County Jail for robbery.
Tim Fang is a digital producer at CBS Bay Area. A Bay Area native, Tim has been a part of the CBS Bay Area newsroom for more than two decades and joined the digital staff in 2006.
What began as a theft at a beauty store in Goleta ended with a freeway traffic stop and the arrest of three men accused of stealing nearly $2,000 worth of designer fragrances, according to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies were called to the Ulta Beauty in the Camino Real Marketplace around 2:12 p.m. on Friday after receiving reports of suspects running from the store with stolen cologne and perfume. Witnesses said the men fled in a red sedan headed toward Highway 101 southbound.
Sheriff’s deputies quickly located the car and stopped it near the Castillo Street off-ramp, officials said.
As they approached, deputies reported being met with an “overwhelming scent of cologne” coming from inside the vehicle. A search turned up about $1,900 in stolen merchandise, linking the three occupants to the theft, according to the department.
Three men were arrested after deputies recovered nearly $2,000 in stolen merchandise following a freeway traffic stop linked to a retail theft. (Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office)
The suspects — identified as 33-year-old Rigoberto Aguirre Andrade of Santa Clara, 32-year-old Miguel Tinoco Hernandez of Santa Barbara and 37-year-old Jose Encarnacion Reyes of San Jose — were taken into custody without incident.
All three were booked on suspicion of felony organized retail theft. Andrade is also being held on two out-of-county warrants for theft-related crimes, with bail set at $325,000. Hernandez faces an additional misdemeanor charge of providing false information to an officer, with bail set at $200,000. Reyes was also booked on a misdemeanor charge of providing false information to an officer, as well as three out-of-county theft-related warrants. His bail was set at $310,000, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
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Authorities in Arlington County, Virginia, are stepping up efforts to address a rise in retail theft in the area.
Authorities in Arlington County, Virginia, are stepping up efforts to address a rise in retail theft in the area.
On Aug. 22, a targeted enforcement effort in Pentagon City resulted in the arrests of 15 suspects, who were charged with a total of 15 felony and 30 misdemeanor offenses.
Charges ranged from receiving stolen property and narcotics violations to threats to kill law enforcement, after one suspect allegedly threatened to kill officers following his arrest.
The suspects were served with 20 notices, forbidding them from various retail businesses, as thousands of dollars’ worth of stolen merchandise was recovered, Arlington County police said.
“Retail theft continues to be an area of focus for our officers and detectives,” Arlington County Police Chief Andy Penn said in a news release.
“We are particularly aware that there are individuals and groups who cause significant financial losses to retailers, both big and small. We also see suspects become violent when confronted, resulting in injury to store employees who are simply trying to do their jobs.”
Arlington County police said that they’re still committed to ensuring public safety and preventing crime. The department encourages local business owners to review its business safety initiatives tips flyer, which advises store employees to keep high-end items away from exits and greet customers as they enter to signal engagement.
WTOP’s Tadiwos Abedje contributed to this story.
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SACRAMENTO — Governor Gavin Newsom announced last month that California’s Organized Retail Crime Task Force (ORCT) had made more than 1,000 arrests in 2024. For more than a month, CBS News California has been trying to find out what happened to those people after their arrests.
No one – not the Governor’s Office, the attorney general, nor the California Highway Patrol (CHP), which runs California’s task force – could tell us how many of the people arrested for retail theft were sentenced, let alone how many showed up to court, went to jail, received treatment, or re-offended. None of the agencies could even provide the names of those 1000+ people, so we could not independently track them down.
The CHP did provide arrest statistics, which reveal that out of the 1,126 arrests made by the Organized Retail Crime Task Force as of early October, more than half (684) were cite-and-releases, which means those offenders received the equivalent of the ticket and a notice to appear in court. District Attorneys say many of those people never show up in court.
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A week before California voters decide on the tougher-on-crime Proposition 36, Gov. Newsom held a virtual news conference Monday to announce that more than 10,000 arrests over the past year by local law enforcement agencies statewide. These arrests were for various crimes, but he attributed them to the hundreds of millions of dollars California invested in cracking down on organized retail theft (ORT) last year.
Newsom awarded approximately $267 million worth of grants to 55 California cities and counties in October 2023. The governor said that money “has generated 10,128 arrests and counting just from the local law enforcement efforts.” Of those arrests there were “nearly 8,000 for organized retail theft,” according to the governor’s office.
However, what the governor couldn’t quantify for reporters on Monday is what happened after those arrests were made. CBS News California has learned that no one is keeping track.
What happens to the retail theft offenders?
“They come out with this big press release, they announce all these arrests, and then, poof, you don’t know what happens,” former Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert said in response to the Governor’s press release.
Schubert is the co-chair of the Yes on Proposition 36 campaign, a ballot measure that would strengthen penalties for certain theft and drug crimes. She has been critical of the state’s attempt to crack down on retail crime and points to the CHP data, which show more than 60% of people arrested by the retail crime task force were cited and released.
“When they’re given a ticket, 50-75% of them never even show up [to court],” Schubert said. She pointed to statistics cited by the Sacramento County Sheriff and District Attorney’s offices, which show the county currently has more than 30,000 bench warrants for people who don’t show up.
“That tells you 30,000 people have never come to court,” she explained. “If you took that number and expanded it statewide, we’re probably talking hundreds of thousands.”
“They spend all this money and get no consequences,” Schubert said, referring to the state money spent on these investigations and arrests.
“Crime does pay”
In some cases, people are arrested, especially for large-scale organized retail theft crimes that can take years to investigate.
Michelle Mack ran a 21-county, multi-million dollar retail crime ring out of her San Diego mansion. She paid women to steal high-end cosmetics and handbags from stores like Sephora and Ulta, which she then sold on Amazon.
Mack and her husband, Kenneth Mack, were among the thousands of arrests publicized by Newsom.
Both of the Macks pleaded guilty and faced up to five years in prison. The judge ordered the Macks to pay more than $3 million in restitution and stay away from Ulta and Sephora stores.
CHP says the agency spent years and hundreds of man-hours investigating the crimes.
“Crime is paying for these folks, and they know it,” Schubert said. “You have to hold them accountable because if not, then guess what? Crime does pay.”
However, Captain Jonathan Staricka, a CHP special operations commander, argues that there is value in the arrest alone.
“What we can’t see and what we can’t measure is how much did we prevent by making that arrest,” Staricka said. “Do you feel that there’s a success rate when we arrest this many individuals? Or was it better when we didn’t?“
Schubert agreed with Staricka on that point.
“I give credit to CHP for the work that they’re doing,” Schubert stressed. “But if we’re going to spend these resources… [the state has] to follow through.”
Fountain had two prior violent convictions and, according to state prison records, would have still been in prison on the date of his latest arrest if he’d served his full sentence for his previous crimes. However, he was released from prison with credits more than two years early under California’s prison crediting system.
He had several other new pending cases when the Attorney General’s office charged Fountain with 29 counts last year, including charges for violent felonies and organized retail theft. The Attorney General then dismissed all but one of those charges, including the charge of Organized Retail Theft.
We reached out to Bonta’s office to ask about his decision to dismiss the 28 charges. A spokesperson for the attorney general explained that several factors are weighed in prosecutorial decisions, including the public safety risk a defendant would pose, what the available evidence is, the interests of the victim, and any risk associated with probation or incarceration in a plea bargain.
“Based on all these factors, this state prison sentence was an appropriate disposition,” the spokesperson concluded.
Fountain pled guilty to just one robbery charge and received a six-year prison sentence, but it’s not clear how much time he’ll serve.
Records show Fountain is currently serving one year in county jail for a separate case prosecuted by the Los Angeles County District Attorney. When he is transferred to state prison at the end of that sentence, he’ll arrive with an eight-month credit for time served. Then, he’ll likely receive an additional one-third to one-half sentence reduction based on California’s current prison crediting system under Proposition 57, which was passed by voters in 2016.
“To give him one count and dismiss the rest is not only outrageous. That individual deserves probably no less than 20 years in state prison. He’s a dangerous human being, Schubert said, adding, “Crime is paying for these folks, and they know it.”
Organize Retail Theft
Many district attorneys argue that California’s Organized Retail Theft (ORT) statute, amended by California lawmakers in 2021, is not an effective tool to charge offenders because it’s too complicated to prove.
Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig called it a “junk statute,” explaining that it requires evidence of multiple complex elements that are rarely established by investigations and simply do not exist in the vast majority of retail crimes.
Data provided by the California District Attorneys Association indicates that most California counties had zero felony ORT convictions in 2023. Even large counties like Sacramento, San Bernadino, Santa Clara, and Ventura show single-digit ORT convictions.
Notably, in the Fountain case, the Attorney General’s office dismissed the one ORT charge.
Of 36 recent organized retail theft defendants publicized by California Attorney General Rob Bonta in press releases from his office, CBS News California identified sentencing information for roughly half.
A CBS News California analysis found that roughly a quarter of those who were sentenced received probation without jail time. Sentences for the remaining defendants ranged from two days to 10 years. However, the one 10-year sentence was based on multiple carjacking and other violent convictions, not the organized retail theft conviction.
What happened to the others arrested this year for retail crime?
Fountain and the Macks are just a few of the recent organized retail theft ring leaders who were arrested for their crimes. In most cases, tracking down the sentencing information is a complicated multi-agency process.
CBS News California spent weeks cross-referencing records through multiple agencies and sources to find out what happened to the three suspects featured in this story. Even officials at the agencies we worked with had difficulty finding accurate information.
So, what happened to the other 1000+ people arrested by California’s Organized Retail Crime Task Force?
CHP Captain Jonathan Staricka said that is “a complicated question.”
Staricka explained that after task force officers make an arrest, they hand the case off to prosecutors, and if there’s a conviction, the case is then tracked by the state prison system, county jails, or the probation department, depending on the sentence. Centralizing that data would be challenging, he noted.
Proposition 36 “is a separate conversation”
Strengthening penalties for retail theft and cracking down on repeat offenders are part of what supporters of Proposition 36 hope the ballot measure will accomplish.
Specifically, they argue that increased penalties under Prop 36 will result in fewer people being cited and released and more people actually being arraigned for alleged crimes.
However, despite being questioned repeatedly Monday about the initiative, Newsom stressed that Proposition 36 “is a separate conversation” from organized retail theft and the statistics from the CHP task force.
“I hope you’ll take a good look at progress,” Newsom continued. “We hope that will continue again, separate and above anything that happens with that initiative.”
We wanted to ask the governor what it would take for him to direct one of his state agencies to publically track what happens to the thousands of people arrested for retail theft in California, including how many show up to court, are sentenced, receive treatment, or re-offend. However, his team did not select us to ask a question.
“Why is it so difficult to get this information out of our attorney general or out of our governor, who’s taking this very proactive role saying that we’re cracking down on organized retail theft?” Schubert questioned. “Why is it so hard?”
Gov. Newsom’s office did not respond to our request for comment or to our repeated requests for an interview.
Julie Watts is a national-award-winning investigative correspondent for CBS News, covering California. Her investigations, Capitol accountability reports, and solutions-oriented journalism air weekly on CBS stations across California.
Supporters of Proposition 36 say it will force people into treatment and get them off the street. Opponents, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, argue that it will fill up jails and mark a return to the 1980s war on drugs.
CBS News California took a closer look at the drug component of the high-profile ballot measure to fact-check those claims and analyze the concerns.
Will Proposition 36 revive drug treatment courts?
To understand this debate, you must go back ten years to November 2014 when California voters passed a different ballot measure: Proposition 47.
Proposition 47 made hard drug possession a misdemeanor instead of a felony and, along with other reforms like Assembly Bill 109 and Proposition 57, helped reduce the state’s prison population. End-of-year data from the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation show that from December 2014 to December 2023, California’s prison population dropped by more than 40,000.
However, court data suggests there were also unintended consequences. CBS News California analyzed county data from across the state and found a consistent drop in drug court participation after Proposition 47 was approved.
For instance, Sacramento County saw more than an 80% drop in drug court participation between 2015 and 2023. However, much of that drop came after the pandemic.
Yolo County’s drug court caseload dropped from 270 cases in 2015 to just three in 2023.
In Santa Clara County, drug court participation dropped so low that the county stopped tracking drug court cases and merged its drug court and mental health court.
While there is no reliable statewide drug court data, a 2020 survey from the Center for Court Innovation examined 67 drug courts in California. The average participation rate across those drug courts dropped from 51% to 39%.
Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan are among a growing number of high-profile elected Democrats going against Newsom to support the new treatment-mandated felonies for hard drug possession under Proposition 36.
Mahan and Ho say that when California slashed sentences for drug possession, it also reduced the incentive for people to choose court-supervised treatment instead of jail time.
“If you get arrested, it’s a cite-and-release for possession of drugs. It’s a misdemeanor,” Ho said. “And when the judge tells you, ‘You can get two or three days in jail or you can go to a treatment program that’s going to be a year long,’ what are you going to take?”
Under Proposition 36, the first two convictions for drug possession would still be misdemeanors. The third is a treatment-mandated felony, which means the charges would be dismissed if treatment is completed.
With a fourth conviction, a judge could issue a maximum three-year sentence, but only if someone is not eligible for treatment.
“It focuses on repeat offenders, and it allows a judge to give someone a choice between engaging in treatment or detoxing in jail,” Mahan said.
In a statement sent to CBS News California, the No on Proposition 36 campaign claimed that “22 counties have no residential treatment facilities,” echoing a statement made by Newsom in August.
We reached out to the Governor’s Office for clarification on what 22 counties he was talking about. They could not tell us, and instead, we received a link to California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) webinar slides from January 2022, based on information collected during the pandemic, which, according to the state, referenced 22 counties not participating in a specific drug delivery program.
The DHCS said it can confirm that “all but 15 counties (Alpine, Colusa, Del Norte, Glenn, Imperial, Inyo, Lassen, Madera, Mariposa, Modoc, Mono, Plumas, Sierra, Siskiyou, Trinity)” currently have state-licensed residential treatment facilities, and in those counties, “clinics, health facilities, community and residential care facilities, jails and prisons can also offer these services.”
“I also think the voters need to hold the state and county accountable for building the treatment capacity we need,” Mahan said.
Soto DeBerry’s criticisms of Proposition 36 include that there is no funding attached to the ballot measure or a mandate to create sufficient treatment options.
Supporters of Proposition 36 point to a variety of funding sources ranging from Proposition 1’s mental health bonds to opioid settlement funds, but critics say that still won’t be enough.
Soto DeBerry also said that it often takes multiple attempts to successfully get an offender treatment, claiming that “under Prop 36, they won’t get a second chance; they’ll be sent to prison.”
“A person shall not be sentenced to jail or prison pursuant to this section unless a court determines that the person is not eligible or suitable for treatment…”
That brings us back to the governor’s argument that Proposition 36 is about mass incarceration.
For context, there are currently around 90,000 people in state prisons. At its peak in 2006, there were over 170,000 people incarcerated, according to CDCR data.
Getting arrested saved his life
On graduation day in Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Larry Brown’s mental health court, Cesar, whose last name we are omitting, had plenty to smile about.
Cesar was arrested in Sacramento County, which has a robust system of “Collaborative Courts” — including drug court and mental health court — and related treatment programs. While in treatment, his case worker helped find him housing and work.
“I was homeless,” he said. “Nothing would stop me from getting high.”
Cesar attended all of his court-mandated treatment appointments. Completing his program resulted in his conviction being erased.
“I got a second chance in life,” he said.
Cesar’s story is a powerful example of the potential of California’s treatment courts.
“I didn’t know another life until I got arrested,” Cesar said. “And I quit cold turkey. Now, I’m sober. Now, I see how a real man feels.”
Proposition 36 supporters point to stories like Cesar’s in their argument that it will result in more people receiving treatment and getting off the streets.
Julie Watts is a national-award-winning investigative correspondent for CBS News, covering California. Her investigations, Capitol accountability reports, and solutions-oriented journalism air weekly on CBS stations across California.
A man who police say stole nearly $8,000 worth of merchandise from two CVS locations in Northwest D.C. in a month-long shoplifting spree this summer has been arrested.
A man who police say stole nearly $8,000 worth of merchandise from two CVS locations in Northwest D.C. during a month-long shoplifting spree this summer has been arrested.
Emmanual Hart, 28, was arrested Sept. 2 and has been charged with two counts of first-degree theft and 19 counts of second-degree theft. He’s also facing attempted robbery charges after police say he confronted a man outside a restaurant last month and tried to steal his scooter.
According to D.C. police, the series of thefts took place between June 28 and July 27, and targeted a CVS near the corner of 14th Street and P Street and another one a few blocks away at the corner of 17th Street and P Street.
Court documents said Hart repeatedly rushed into the two stores and stuffed hundreds of dollars worth of merchandise, such as Lysol, trash bags and paper towels, into bags in only a few seconds and then left the stores without paying.
All told, he made off with merchandise valued at $7,906.06, according to police.
Separate from the shoplifting, Hart is also being charged in relation to an attempted robbery that took place about 12:15 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 17 outside the Shake Shack on 14th Street, according to court documents.
Hart and another man are accused of trying to steal a man’s scooter as he was sitting on it in front of the restaurant. Hart swung what appeared to be a bottle in a black plastic bag at the man with the scooter and began to “physically tussle” over the scooter, but the other man was able to fight the two assailants off, according to the documents.
Hart made his first appearance in D.C. Superior Court on Sept. 3 and was ordered held without bond. He will next go before a judge on Sept. 16.
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SAN FRANCISCO — Labor Day weekend shopping was in full swing in San Francisco Union Square Monday and so was the police presence.
After years of crime and just days after an attempted armed robbery and shooting of 49ers rookie wide receiver Ricky Pearsall, shoppers said their safety is top of mind when shopping in the area.
“The stores are safe but the environment around Union Square — not so,” shopper Maya told CBS News Bay Area.
Tightly grasping their newly-purchased items is second nature for some shoppers who anticipate a need for heightened security in the popular shopping district, especially on a holiday weekend.
“I haven’t taken it off my hand literally,” she says, clutching a Banana Republic bag.
At least 10 police vehicles were on display around the square, plus an SFPD command center. Overall crime in the district is down 44 percent compared to last year according to the SFPD and robberies are down 17.6 percent.
According to police officials, Union Square is staffed with more officers than any other part of the city.
“I’ve been out here for at least seven years. I shop out here, I work out here, I do overtime out here, I shop here, I eat here. There’s nothing to be worried about here at all,” Officer Gary Kunaboot said.
Police presence appears to have an impact on shoppers.
“A lot of cops so that makes me feel like it’s working,” one shopper said.
Shoppers like Eranld say they feel confident shopping in the area regardless of the attempted robbery over the weekend.
“It’s sad but it doesn’t really affect me,” he said.
As for Maya, she doesn’t plan to do any high-dollar shopping in the area anytime soon.
“I wouldn’t buy that here,” she said. “Let’s just put it that way.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday signed a bipartisan package of 10 bills that aims to crack down on smash-and-grab robberies and property crimes, making it easier to go after repeat shoplifters and auto thieves and increase penalties for those running professional reselling schemes.The move comes as Democratic leadership works to prove that they’re tough enough on crime while trying to convince voters reject a ballot measure that would bring even harsher sentences for repeat offenders of shoplifting and drug charges.While shoplifting has been a growing problem, large-scale, smash-and-grab thefts, in which groups of individuals brazenly rush into stores and take goods in plain sight, have become a crisis in California and elsewhere in recent years. Such crimes, often captured on video and posted on social media, have brought particular attention to the problem of retail theft in the state.The legislation includes the most significant changes to address retail theft in years, the Democratic governor said. It allows law enforcement to combine the value of goods stolen from different victims to impose harsher penalties and arrest people for shoplifting using video footage or witness statements.“This goes to the heart of the issue, and it does it in a thoughtful and judicious way,” Newsom said of the package. “This is the real deal.”The legislation also crack down on cargo thefts, close a legal loophole to make it easier to prosecute auto thefts and require marketplaces like eBay and Nextdoor to start collecting bank accounts and tax identification numbers from high-volume sellers. Retailers also can obtain restraining orders against convicted shoplifters under one of the bills.“We know that retail theft has consequences, big and small, physical and financial,” state Sen. Nancy Skinner, who authored one of the bills, said Friday. “And we know we have to take the right steps in order to stop it without returning to the days of mass incarceration.”Democratic lawmakers, led by Newsom, spent months earlier this year unsuccessfully fighting to keep a tougher-on-crime initiative off the November ballot. That ballot measure, Proposition 36, would make it a felony for repeat shoplifters and some drug charges, among other things. Democrats worried the measure would disproportionately criminalize low-income people and those with substance use issues rather than target ringleaders who hire large groups of people to steal goods for them to resell online. Lawmakers’ legislation instead would allow prosecutors to combine multiple thefts at different locations for a felony charge and stiffen penalties for smash-and-grabs and large-scale reselling operations.Newsom in June went as far as proposing putting a competing measure on the ballot but dropped the plan a day later. Proposition 36 is backed by a coalition of district attorneys, businesses and some local elected officials such as San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan.The package received bipartisan support from the Legislature, though some progressive Democrats did not vote for it, citing concerns that some of the measures are too punitive.How to tackle crimes in California has become increasingly difficult to navigate in recent years for state Democrats, many of whom have spent the last decade championing progressive policies to depopulate jails and prisons and invest in rehabilitation programs. Newsom’s administration has also spent $267 million to help dozens of local law enforcement agencies increase patrols, buy surveillance equipment and prosecute more criminals.The issue hit a boiling point this year amid mounting criticism from Republicans and law enforcement, who point to viral videos of large-scale thefts where groups of individuals brazenly rush into stores and take goods in plain sight. Voters across the state are also vexed over what they see as a lawless California where retail crimes and drug abuse run rampant as the state grapples with a homelessness crisis.As the issue could even affect the makeup — and control — of Congress, some Democrats broke with party leadership and said they supported Proposition 36, the tough-on crime approach.It’s hard to quantify the retail crime issue in California because of the lack of local data, but many point to major store closures and everyday products like toothpaste being locked behind plexiglass as evidence of a crisis. The California Retailers Association said it’s challenging to quantify the issue in California because many stores don’t share their data.Crime data shows the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles saw a steady increase in shoplifting between 2021 and 2022, according to a study by the non-partisan Public Policy Institute of California. The state attorney general and experts said crime rates in California remain low compared to the heights decades ago.The California Highway Patrol has recovered $45 million in stolen goods and arrested nearly 3,000 people since 2019, officials said Friday.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter
SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday signed a bipartisan package of 10 bills that aims to crack down on smash-and-grab robberies and property crimes, making it easier to go after repeat shoplifters and auto thieves and increase penalties for those running professional reselling schemes.
The move comes as Democratic leadership works to prove that they’re tough enough on crime while trying to convince voters reject a ballot measure that would bring even harsher sentences for repeat offenders of shoplifting and drug charges.
While shoplifting has been a growing problem, large-scale, smash-and-grab thefts, in which groups of individuals brazenly rush into stores and take goods in plain sight, have become a crisis in California and elsewhere in recent years. Such crimes, often captured on video and posted on social media, have brought particular attention to the problem of retail theft in the state.
The legislation includes the most significant changes to address retail theft in years, the Democratic governor said. It allows law enforcement to combine the value of goods stolen from different victims to impose harsher penalties and arrest people for shoplifting using video footage or witness statements.
“This goes to the heart of the issue, and it does it in a thoughtful and judicious way,” Newsom said of the package. “This is the real deal.”
The legislation also crack down on cargo thefts, close a legal loophole to make it easier to prosecute auto thefts and require marketplaces like eBay and Nextdoor to start collecting bank accounts and tax identification numbers from high-volume sellers. Retailers also can obtain restraining orders against convicted shoplifters under one of the bills.
“We know that retail theft has consequences, big and small, physical and financial,” state Sen. Nancy Skinner, who authored one of the bills, said Friday. “And we know we have to take the right steps in order to stop it without returning to the days of mass incarceration.”
Democratic lawmakers, led by Newsom, spent months earlier this year unsuccessfully fighting to keep a tougher-on-crime initiative off the November ballot. That ballot measure, Proposition 36, would make it a felony for repeat shoplifters and some drug charges, among other things. Democrats worried the measure would disproportionately criminalize low-income people and those with substance use issues rather than target ringleaders who hire large groups of people to steal goods for them to resell online. Lawmakers’ legislation instead would allow prosecutors to combine multiple thefts at different locations for a felony charge and stiffen penalties for smash-and-grabs and large-scale reselling operations.
Newsom in June went as far as proposing putting a competing measure on the ballot but dropped the plan a day later. Proposition 36 is backed by a coalition of district attorneys, businesses and some local elected officials such as San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan.
The package received bipartisan support from the Legislature, though some progressive Democrats did not vote for it, citing concerns that some of the measures are too punitive.
How to tackle crimes in California has become increasingly difficult to navigate in recent years for state Democrats, many of whom have spent the last decade championing progressive policies to depopulate jails and prisons and invest in rehabilitation programs. Newsom’s administration has also spent $267 million to help dozens of local law enforcement agencies increase patrols, buy surveillance equipment and prosecute more criminals.
The issue hit a boiling point this year amid mounting criticism from Republicans and law enforcement, who point to viral videos of large-scale thefts where groups of individuals brazenly rush into stores and take goods in plain sight. Voters across the state are also vexed over what they see as a lawless California where retail crimes and drug abuse run rampant as the state grapples with a homelessness crisis.
As the issue could even affect the makeup — and control — of Congress, some Democrats broke with party leadership and said they supported Proposition 36, the tough-on crime approach.
It’s hard to quantify the retail crime issue in California because of the lack of local data, but many point to major store closures and everyday products like toothpaste being locked behind plexiglass as evidence of a crisis. The California Retailers Association said it’s challenging to quantify the issue in California because many stores don’t share their data.
Crime data shows the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles saw a steady increase in shoplifting between 2021 and 2022, according to a study by the non-partisan Public Policy Institute of California. The state attorney general and experts said crime rates in California remain low compared to the heights decades ago.
The California Highway Patrol has recovered $45 million in stolen goods and arrested nearly 3,000 people since 2019, officials said Friday.
State-run liquor stores operated by the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority (ABC) have been losing thousands of dollars in Northern Virginia due to theft. Now, they are rolling out security upgrades as a result.
Locks are being installed to restrict access to stockroom areas, security cameras are being enhanced and a new shoplifting safety training program is being implemented for employees.
“Our retail staff are being trained to gather usable suspect information and leads for law enforcement,” said Barbara Storm, special agent in charge at ABC.
Multiple stores have been ripped off in recent months in and around Fairfax County. In all, suspects have gotten away with more than $80,000 worth of merchandise, which is taken from the stores and subsequently sold on the street.
Storm said the new store policies would help to “better deter and detect retail theft.”
“Some of the suspects go into the backroom of the stores and steal the high-end liquor that’s there, or they grab stuff that they can get easily so they can make a quick getaway and get out of the store,” said Fairfax County Deputy Police Chief Gregory Fried.
While police have made a handful of arrests, multiple investigations are still open as work to track down additional suspects continues. So far, the Fairfax County Police Department has released photos of 10 people caught on security footage who they are hoping to identify soon.
“We have suspects from all around the DMV,” Storm said.
One suspect who was arrested was identified as Lonnell Jennings, 26, who was charged with grand larceny and possession of stolen property with intent to sell. Jomarice Evans, 27, was also arrested and charged with robbery, grand larceny and organized retail theft.
Detectives said three more suspects, all under the age of 18, were also charged.
Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis called retail theft “serious business.”
“People tend to gloss over it as a victimless property crime, and it is anything but a victimless crime,” Davis said. “The retailers certainly are victimized by it. Consumers are victimized by it as well, with rising prices and other distractions and changes to their shopping experiences.”
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(FOX40.COM) — A 30-year-old man was arrested after allegedly stealing over $1200 worth of merchandise from a Northern California Safeway and leading police on a high-speed pursuit.
Around 3 p.m. on June 9, the Folsom Police Department said it received a call about a theft from the Safeway on Prairie City Road in Folsom. The caller reported they saw the suspect load a cart full of items and leave the store without paying for them. They provided a description of the suspect and vehicle: a black Toyota headed toward US Highway 50.
Additionally, the caller provided dispatchers with a license plate number, according to FPD. An officer responded to westbound US Highway 50 and located a vehicle with the same license plate number being driven by a driver who matched the suspect’s description. Police said the vehicle was traveling at high speed and weaving in and out of traffic.
An officer attempted to pull the vehicle over, however, the vehicle exited US Highway 50 at Zinfandel Drive and continued to drive dangerously onto Olson Drive, according to FPD. Video recorded by FPD shows the pursuit in part. Eventually, the vehicle turned into a parking lot on the 11000 Block of Olson Drive and surrendered.
FPD said Eric Kephart of Elk Grove was arrested for alleged grand theft and evading a police officer. He was booked at Sacramento County Jail and all items were returned to Safeway.
TJ Maxx shoppers may now encounter security workers outfitted with police-type body cameras at some of the retailer’s stores.
TJX, which operates TJ Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods, said it made the move late last year as part of an effort to curb shoplifting, with executives disclosing the initiative during an earnings call late last month.
When somebody walks in, “It’s almost like a de-escalation where people are less likely to do something when they’re being videotaped,” Chief Financial Officer John Klinger told Wall Street analysts.
TJX, which operates more than 4,900 stores across nine countries, isn’t the only retailer turning to cameras to deter theft. More than a third of retailers said they were researching body-worn cameras for workers, according to a 2023 survey by the National Retail Federation survey, with 11% saying they were piloting or testing the technology.
What retailers call “shrink” or shrinkage, including theft, amounted to more than $112 billion in industry losses in 2022, representing 1.6% of total retail sales and up from 1.4%, or roughly $94 billion in losses the previous year, according to the NRF. Shrinkage also encompasses losses related to merchandise that isn’t scanned properly, vendor fraud and fraudulent product returns.
Giant Food supermarkets recently banned large bags in some of its stores experiencing high shrink, while others are investing in AI-driven surveillance and like technologies.
The NRF also points to the problem of what it calls “organized retail crime,” or large-scale, coordinated thefts at stores involving multiple people. In the aftermath of the pandemic, a number of retailers reported a surge in retail crime. Target last year said it was closing nine stores in four states because mounting thefts and organized retail crime threatened the safety of workers and customers.
Yet measuring the scale of the problem is difficult, with legal advocates noting that even more reliable crime data is inadequate. And while some cities did, in fact, see a jump in shoplifting following the pandemic, other metros saw a decline, according to the Council on Criminal Justice.
A November study by the non-partisan think tank found that, excluding New York City, the number of shoplifting incidents in 24 U.S. metros fell roughly 7% in the first six months of 2023 compared with the first half of 2019.
Over that four-year period, New York saw the largest spike in reported shoplifting, with a 64% increase, followed by Los Angeles (61%). By contrast, some cities saw a steep decline, with such incidents falling 78% and 65% in St. Petersburg, Fla., and St. Paul, Minn., respectively, the group found.
(FOX40.COM) — Bodycam footage released by the Sacramento Police Department shows the pursuit of retail theft suspects before their arrest.
On Thursday, SPD officers on motorcycles responded to a retail theft call. The suspects were located in a vehicle, pulled over, and arrested. The merchandise was also recovered, according to SPD. Footage of the incident was posted on the agency’s social media page.
(FOX40.COM) -The Lodi Police Department is seeking the public’s assistance to identify the suspects involved in a grand theft at Carters Pet Mart.
Police did not specify the time the crime happened, however, the pet store is located at 1379 S. Lower Sacramento Road.
Have you seen them? LPD is asking for help to identify to grand theft suspects./Lodi Police Department
Anyone with information is advised to contact Officer Lewis at tlewis2@lodi.gov or the Lodi Police Department at (209) 333-6728 and reference case #24-2427. Informants can also contact the Lodi Area Crime Stoppers at (209) 369-2746 and be eligible for a reward of up to $1000.
(FOX40.COM) — The Fairfield Police Department reported that an officer was bit as a result of an altercation with a woman accused of theft.
At 7:17 p.m. on March 30, FPD responded to a retail store in the 2000 block of Cadenasso Drive following a report of a suspected shoplifter who refused to leave.
Upon arrival, police said the woman refused to obey verbal commands and when they attempted to take her into custody, she stomped on an officer’s foot and bit his finger.
The woman was arrested and booked into jail under suspicion of battery on a peace officer, trespassing, and resisting arrest. No significant injuries were reported.
San Joaquín County is taking steps to curb retail theft. On Friday, the District Attorney’s Office and the Greater Stockton Chamber of Commerce announced the launch of their Stockton Takes Action Against Retail Theft Program.STAART is the latest attempt to end retail theft and it includes stronger actions like prosecution against those found committing the crimes.Greater Stockton Chamber of Commerce CEO Timm Quin told KCRA they’ve seen enough business closures.”The biggest concern is the livelihood of these businesses. People are coming in and taking things, and especially smaller businesses — that’s their livelihood,” Quin said.Chris Podesto, who supervises 24 grocery stores, including Food 4 Less and Rancho San Miguel, said they’ve lost about $8 million in the last year.Podesto was also present at this announcement and told KCRA that while they don’t want to raise prices and pass those on to customers.”Theft is unlike anything I’ve ever seen in my 40-year career,” Podesto said.District Attorney Ron Freitas spoke before loss prevention officers from major retailers and informed them that through STAART, they’d also be unveiling new technology to identify ‘serial shoplifters’ in the community.”A technology we’re looking for with the FasTrak App in a reporting system that we can report directly to the DA’s office, and if they have enough to prosecute, then they can do that; bypass some of the issues that take a while to get things done,” Quin said.While true data on organized retail theft is scarce, the STAART announcement was well received.”It’s good news for all of our employees who are traumatized by the theft, and it’s good for us financially, so we keep costs and our groceries down,” Podesto said.Educational workshops will begin this month, with the first happening on April 24. The workshops will include information on being a good witness and filing a police report.About 850 businesses are members of the Chamber of Commerce. However, workshops will be open to everyone, including nonmembers.Before this announcement, leaders in San Joaquín met with the Yolo County District Attorney’s office, which announced their FastPass to Prosecution last month. This program aims to close the gap between the retailer and the DA’s office by taking police officers or deputies out of the picture.
STOCKTON, Calif. —
San Joaquín County is taking steps to curb retail theft. On Friday, the District Attorney’s Office and the Greater Stockton Chamber of Commerce announced the launch of their Stockton Takes Action Against Retail Theft Program.
STAART is the latest attempt to end retail theft and it includes stronger actions like prosecution against those found committing the crimes.
Greater Stockton Chamber of Commerce CEO Timm Quin told KCRA they’ve seen enough business closures.
“The biggest concern is the livelihood of these businesses. People are coming in and taking things, and especially [for] smaller businesses — that’s their livelihood,” Quin said.
Chris Podesto, who supervises 24 grocery stores, including Food 4 Less and Rancho San Miguel, said they’ve lost about $8 million in the last year.
Podesto was also present at this announcement and told KCRA that while they don’t want to raise prices and pass those on to customers.
“Theft is unlike anything I’ve ever seen in my 40-year career,” Podesto said.
District Attorney Ron Freitas spoke before loss prevention officers from major retailers and informed them that through STAART, they’d also be unveiling new technology to identify ‘serial shoplifters’ in the community.
“A technology we’re looking for with the FasTrak App in a reporting system that we can report directly to the DA’s office, and if they have enough to prosecute, then they can do that; bypass some of the issues that take a while to get things done,” Quin said.
While true data on organized retail theft is scarce, the STAART announcement was well received.
“It’s good news for all of our employees who are traumatized by the theft, and it’s good for us financially, so we keep costs and our groceries down,” Podesto said.
Educational workshops will begin this month, with the first happening on April 24. The workshops will include information on being a good witness and filing a police report.
About 850 businesses are members of the Chamber of Commerce. However, workshops will be open to everyone, including nonmembers.
Before this announcement, leaders in San Joaquín met with the Yolo County District Attorney’s office, which announced their FastPass to Prosecution last month. This program aims to close the gap between the retailer and the DA’s office by taking police officers or deputies out of the picture.
