RIO LINDA, Calif. — The owners of a 7-Eleven in Rio Linda are forced to pick their store up off the floor after it was looted and trashed by a few dozen people.
It took place late Sunday near the intersection of Rio Linda Blvd and Elkhorn Blvd.
The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office said 40 to 50 people from a nearby sideshow broke windows, marched into the store, and stole drinks, food and other merchandise.
“They just had no regard for any kind of laws whatsoever,” said Coby Scarborough, Rio Linda resident.
The sheriff's office said the store was ransacked within a matter of minutes by kids between the ages of 14 to 20. They all left the area before deputies arrived but not before stealing thousands of dollars of merchandise.
“I heard about this kind of stuff happening in big cities but not here in Rio Linda,” said Scarborough. “My goodness, it's terrifying.”
“It is all gangbangers and people who just want to screw things up,” said a Rio Linda resident name Bill.
Most of the cleanup on Wednesday was done, and most windows were repaired.
“These guys are eventually going to get caught. But the shame of it all is that there really won't be any punishment,” said Sgt. Amar Gandhi of Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office.
Sgt. Gandhi said that is because this act is referred to as a nonviolent crime. Most of the suspects will get a citation and a few might get some jail time.
“Until people want to do something about these laws, really nothing is going to change,” said Sgt. Gandhi. “We want to keep calling these nonviolent felonies. I want you to ask the clerks inside how nonviolent it felt when you have got 40 to 50 people in there, straight looting."
Store looting highlights a bigger issue across California, commercial robberies. Public Policy Institute of California shows in 2022 compared to 2019, Sacramento County had the third highest commercial robbery rate, 58 per 100,000 residents -- behind Los Angeles and San Joaquin counties.
“These are not just big corporations that are losing money. These are franchises. These are owned by small business owners that are in your community,” said Gandhi. These are the people that are sponsoring your little league teams, sponsoring your soccer teams. That are serving a purpose here. Eventually, what is going to be left for them once it stops being profitable? They are going to shut down, then what happens to the community then?”
Gandhi said no arrests have been made in this case. The sheriff's office is checking surveillance videos at the 7-Eleven and other businesses in the area.
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