SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Asian community is on high alert after a man was attacked in broad daylight and a woman was robbed of her purse in South Sacramento.
Both took place at shopping centers off Stockton Boulevard.
"Sometimes, it's pretty scary because you know you got to watch your back when you kind of leave here. Because people may follow you. Especially for ladies, they might just kind of grab your purse and run with it," said Khoa Nguyen, Stockton Boulevard shopper.
The Sacramento County Sheriff's Office said Asians are being targeted, but it isn't necessarily because they're Asian.
"On average in this area in the Central Division, which is our South Sacramento area, we average roughly between 200 to 250 robbery reports per year. From there, roughly 40% of those robberies occur within that Stockton Boulevard, Florin road area," said Sgt. Amar Gandhi, spokesperson for the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office.
Sgt. Gandhi said the numbers this year are actually down from last year, but because of the impact, law enforcement is giving the area a lot of attention.
"We really take crime on Stockton Boulevard seriously. We kind of partner with our sheriff, our police department. We have security construction pod cameras on Stockton Boulevard and Fowler we just installed, and it just gives us additional eyes on the street," said Frank Louie, executive director of the Stockton Boulevard Partnership.
The Stockton Boulevard Partnership calls the incidents a crime of opportunity. They're devoted to working with the sheriff's office and police to stop the thieves in their tracks.
"Keep in mind, surveillance equipment in this area, and we're in 2023, you're not getting away with anything. And we're not pulling any stops either. We've got proactive patrols. We've got more people out than we've ever had. We've got robbery detectives that are the best in the world," said Sgt. Gandhi.
The town hall meeting will be held Thursday at 7000 65th Street at 6 p.m. The community is invited to come and engage with law enforcement and some of the organizations.
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