Today I saw something I’m going to describe as “Stockton”, right here in Chico.
You probably saw the man on the viral video, threatening the owner/operator of a mini-mart as he rifled cigarettes into a borrowed trash can. He was either on something or giving an Oscar worthy performance of a drug addict. An employee came out of a back room and subdued the man, took him down to the floor, and held his arms as the owner came out from behind his counter with a broom stick and started whipping the man around his legs and feet.
I know a lot of people cheered that store owner as he had what amounted to a mental breakdown. I believe he had put up with so much of that kind of abuse at his job, that he just snapped.
As I watched that video, I wondered, what would I do, if I’d been in that store? Would I have stood by and taped it? Would I have encouraged the owner to step back and call the police later (knowing they wouldn’t do anything)? Would I just tell the owner to put in a claim on his insurance (the rates for which are already obscene)? Would I have tried to stop the thief, who was threatening the owner with a knife? He tried to produce the knife but his pants started to fall off.
Here’s what I know I would do – I would never go near that store again.
I’ve said it again and again, I’m not going to be the victim of a crime just to shore up Chico’s sagging retail and public finances. It’s business, not charity. So, here’s why I’m not buying gas in Chico anymore.
Just this morning, Dude sent me this story from Action News –
I’d heard this story and it made me sad for Chico. A person carjacked as he gassed his car at the Mangrove Safeway. My family used to live in a house just down Palmetto from that shopping center, we knew the employees and they knew us because we rode our bikes down there almost every day to pick up groceries and snacks. We used the gas station there almost exclusively because it was so close to our house, a nice lady we know still works there. We used several other businesses in that shopping center for years.
We moved a few blocks away about 6 years ago, and I’ve noticed a distinct change in the old neighborhood, namely, more transients and druggies. As I’ve reported here before, the Mangrove Safeway parking lot started getting so dicey, I started staying in the truck to watch our tools while my husband would go into the store. I’d see transients circling the parking lot, either on foot, or on bikes, and very deliberately look in car windows. I even spotted people jiggling car door handles.
Finally a friend tipped us to Winco, where the prices are lower. We started gassing up at a gas station nearby. I’ve watched that station go downhill since new ownership, it doesn’t look as tidy as it used to. Today as my husband filled up our tank, I noticed a guy come out of the attached store, and walk directly to the trash bins. I knew he was going to go through the trash, sure, looking for half a cigarette, or maybe some aluminum cans. I wasn’t quite surprised – I’ve seen it before – when he pulled two empty drink cups out of the bottom of the can, turned and walked back into the store. I watched him disappear toward the drink dispensers, and I realized, he’s getting a free refill. I wondered why the store would put up with that, free drinks?
Then I witnessed something I’d only seen in viral videos and news stories. The man took his full cups and approached the door, opening it partially. But he turned and went back inside, approaching the cashier. I could see him become angry, and suddenly he tossed the contents of the cups over the counter at the cashier.
I guess the cashier had told the man he needed to pay for the drinks, and that was the man’s response. And then here’s what really surprised me – the cashier came right out from behind the counter and engaged the man, shoving him toward the door. The man grabbed the cashier and the struggling pair meandered across the room and out of my sight.
Meanwhile my husband, with his back to the action, was busily filling our car. When I saw the man throw the drinks, I yelled out loud, “Honey, oh my god, call 9-1-1!” He turned to see what was going on, reminding me that I was holding his phone. My hands were shaking so badly I smashed at the icons on the phone. I couldn’t remember the number.
As I smashed at the keys, I looked up to see the cashier ejecting the man from the store. The man was making threats, but he was walking away. I knew the cops wouldn’t do anything, so I closed the phone. The cashier glared at me as I stared open mouthed at him. I didn’t know what to say. My husband had paid for the gas, and we saw there was nothing more we could do, so we left.
So there it is, I wondered when it would happen – I just witnessed a crime in broad daylight in my own town. These criminals are emboldened by law enforcement policy not to press charges for less than $900 worth of theft/damage, just “counsel and move along”.
Until this policy changes, I won’t shop in crime prone areas, and that’s becoming most of Chico. I’m not going to risk my safety and I’m not going to risk being charged with a crime for protecting myself. I do most of my shopping online these days, or out of town.
I do know of a gas station in a nice, clean, safe, not-so-far away town, it’s worth the drive.
POST SCRIPT: This post was picked up by NewsBreak, and a man offered this advice:
Edward Phillips, 7h ago, Don’t stop giving your business to Chico stores. Just make yourself more aware of your surroundings. Keep your eyes open and don’t let yourself be a victim. When you let them push you out, they win….
Ed did not get the point, let me make myself more clear. Ed, the problem is not actually the criminal element, it’s the City of Chico and Chico PD that are causing and allowing this mess to pile up. The city declared the Shelter Crisis Designation, for which they received over $4 million to spend on the “homeless crisis”. Where that money went is your guess. You see we still have an out-of-control criminal population – many of them felons from other states – living in the streets and parks of our town. The police roll their eyes and shrug their shoulders. They will take a report, if you insist, but they won’t arrest anybody, even if you point out the perp laying in the bushes across the street. The local DA will not investigate or prosecute for crimes under $1,000, so these people are let loose on the streets of our town, our retail areas, and our neighborhoods.
The city of Chico has had the nerve to institute a one-cent sales tax measure, with a simple majority vote of 50+1. I’m guessing Ed has already stopped listening. The city used “safety” as a carrot for that tax, said they would clean up the streets, hire more cops to deal with the ever-increasing number of criminals attracted to our town by services offered by the county and state.
Ed, it’s time to reach into your pants and find your gonads. I found mine, and I’m not giving any more money to this town in the form of sales tax. I still buy groceries in town but we’ll see what happens next.
Chico Taxpayers Association 
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