Attempted Robbery at Rite Aide in Chico

by Jack

A possible homeless man was arrested moments ago for robbery (by force and no weapon). It happened at Rite Aide store on Valombrosa at Mangrove when a White male adult, possibly in his 20’s, attempted to take merchandise from the store and then force his way past store security. When he was being placed under citizens arrest he resisted. He was flailing about and yelling and in general making a big scene. Although he was behaving in a violent manner no customers were ever in danger and the man was kept safely away from them. The arrest and struggle prompted the store personnel to call 9-1-1 and within a minute or two three police cars arrived on the scene and took the man into custody. The police charged the man with a felony, 211 PC, robbery…and not mere shoplifting. This was due to the force he used trying to take merchandise from the store’s employee.

I watched the whole thing go down and I was glad to see the police get serious about these transients. They are a serious problem to public safety.

A witness to this incident later told me this man and several others were known to her. She said this man and his friends have been stealing from local stores and they were the responsible for many area thefts. She was glad to see this one was finally caught, but worried about the others who were exiting the scene as we spoke. She said these men once lived in a low income apartment in Chapman town, but they had been evicted and were believed living on the streets.

I know from personal observations that the bums coming out of Bidwell Park often try to steal liquor from the Rite Aide store, it’s a tempting target for these characters.

While I was in the store a scraggly looking transient wandered in, he was carrying a large backpack and bedroll. The man was filthy and stunk. He seemed oblivious to the police activity in the store. No doubt this was another new arrival to Chico seeking the generous free amenities provided here. Our Shelters are magnets for bums from all over. They think Chico is a little Berkeley and the liberals will give them all kinds of free stuff.

That’s our reputation like it or not, and they are coming from all the country just to be here. You can thank you liberal city council for some of this problem. It’s odd that our Council wants to build yet another shelter here, one that has no rules. It’s called a wet shelter and it is simply here for the ones that get tossed out of the other shelters, say for fighting or sneaking in booze, etc. No, I’m not kidding!

Oh,and that dumb census the liberals always refer to to dispel the believe these bums are really mostly locals down on their luck…hey, that’s a running joke among the bums. If they are ever asked by anyone they are told to say, “I’m from Chico and I have lived here for many years.” They know how to play the game and the dunces doing the census are totally scammed.