SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Friday marks one week since ABC10 first reported about businesses on the Broadway corridor in Sacramento being fed up with dealing with crime after a gas station employee was robbed at gunpoint.
Those same business owners say another thief broke in and caused thousands of dollars in damage.
The owner of C-and-B Food and Liquor says it was a neighbor who lives nearby who called him around 6 a.m. Thursday to let him know someone was climbing a tree behind the store and getting on the roof.
And after hearing a lot of noise coming from up above, he called 911. He says he called 911 a couple of times, but had to wait about 2 hours before Sacramento Police showed up. When they did, he says they left after "not seeing much."
"A week ago, it was next door. Robbery and all this happening next door. Happens more. I did not know it was going to happen to me," said Ram Dharmendra, the owner of C&B Food and Liquor.
Just a week ago, we spoke to Dharmendra about an armed robbery at the Chevron gas station next door.
Well, little did he know his own store would be the next target.
"I open the door in the morning, I come here. I look at the cash register first. I could not find the cash register. It was all behind the counter damaged, broken. And I didn't go back there to look so I came and saw the sunlight. I say 'why so bright there?'" said Dharmendra.
The sunlight was coming from this hole made in the ceiling by a thief who made their way in.
A few feet away, there was another hole where the thief made their way out with hundreds of dollars worth of money, alcohol bottles and even lottery tickets.
The store owner says this is a clear example of why businesses here need help finding a solution to stop this.
"I think the district council or the mayor, they should be over here. Not one day. Spend at least once a week in different areas of this district here and see what's going on," said Dharmendra.
Dharmendra says he's so fed up with this, he feels he has to take matters into his own hands.
He tells ABC10 he plans to have an armed person come and live at the store.
"It's very tiring. Very tiering. So just so you know, there'll be someone here and someone's gonna get hurt when they come next," said Dharmendra. "Someone's gonna get hurt and I know a few other places here, they're doing the same thing."
The store owner says he'd also like to have a conversation with Mayor Darrell Steinberg and city council member Rick Jennings about the safety concerns of this area.
ABC10 made several attempts to speak to both Jennings and Mayor Steinberg, but neither returned our phone calls or emails Friday.
The Sacramento Police Department sent ABC10 this statement:
"The Sacramento Police Department is aware of the growing concerns surrounding issues along the Broadway corridor. The department shares those same concerns and stands with our community, business owners, and stakeholders. The department has deployed bike officers to the Broadway corridor and we will be increasing our presence to address these issues.
We urge anyone who witnesses a crime to call 911 or our non-emergency number at 916-808-5471.
As far as response times, there is no secret that our staffing levels are low across the board. Because of that, we rely heavily on our prioritization of calls for dispatching. That means that if something that is violent and in progress is dispatched, that would take priority over a report call that may have taken place earlier in the day where there is no present danger at that time."
