“They are scared”: Sacramento, Stockton food trucks targeted in armed robberies

By TORI APODACA

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    SACRAMENTO, California (KOVR) — Multiple food truck owners across the Greater Sacramento area are now fearing for their own safety after being victims of robberies just this past week.

Claudia Ruiz, the owner of the taco truck La Baja Birrieria Tijuana on Hammer Lane in Stockton, was robbed last week.

The suspects had guns and smashed the two employees’ phones before taking off with more than $1,000 in cash. It was all caught on the truck’s surveillance camera.

“All the trauma that my employees receive, that is nothing that I can get paid off,” Ruiz said. “They are really scared. Even though it already passed, they are scared. They feel like they are going to come back because [the robbers] told them ‘If you tell the police, we are going to start shooting the truck.’ “

Ruiz said they still reported the incident to the police, but closing or moving locations is not an option.

“Five families depend on the business,” she said. “So we are just going to close a little bit early.”

Another food truck along Hammer Lane in Stockton was also robbed over the weekend, and in Sacramento, Kiki’s Chicken on Stockton Boulevard and Lindale Avenue was hit on Sunday night.

“You are not going to get away with some great amount of money that it’s worth it,” said Sergeant Amar Gandhi with the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office.

Gandhi said the robber of Kiki’s was then robbed himself as he ran off.

“They are not as easy of targets as some people may think they are,” Gandhi said. ” A lot of them are now getting more savvy and going to a cash-less [system].”

Dreswki’s Food Trucks in Sacramento made the switch from cash-only to card after getting broken into at least 20 times over the years.

“If there is an opportunity, these guys are like little cockroaches. They will get in wherever they can,” said Andrew Blaskovich, the owner of Drewski’s.

Blaskovich does not even bother locking the door of his food trucks anymore and takes out the valuables each night.

“If they go in the truck, they are not going to find anything, but I won’t have to pay for a new window or a pried open door, which that can be thousands of thousands of dollars,” he said.

Stockton Police said another solution is for food trucks to band together and hire private security.

Some food trucks like Ruiz’s are near lots that do have private security, but others are more hidden.

“Taco trucks, they don’t carry enough money,” said Ruiz. “It wasn’t even worth it.”

If you know anything about the break-in that happened on Hammer Lane in Stockton, call the Stockton Police Department at (209) 937-8377.

For tips on the robbery of Kiki’s Chicken in Sacramento, call the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office at (916) 874-5115 or Sacramento Valley Crime Stoppers at (916) 443-HELP (4357). The sheriff’s office said tips leading to an arrest are eligible for a cash reward of up to $1000, and tipsters remain anonymous.

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