Crossings TV Asian Television
Reposted from KCRA news
Link to original article can be found here.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. —The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office will host a town hall on Thursday to raise awareness of robberies targeting the Asian community along Stockton Boulevard.
“Are they targeting Asians because they’re Asian? No, but are they targeting Asians predominantly? Yeah, it seems that way by the numbers, and let’s just call that what it is,” said Sgt. Amar Gandhi, a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office.
Surprisingly, the most recent crimes have not taken place inside the south Sacramento businesses, but instead outdoors in broad daylight.
As seen in a surveillance video released last month in a shopping center, a man approached a woman, stole her purse, and immediately drove off a packed parking lot.
Gandhi added that in these recent robberies, “Several of them are armed and they’re approaching people — like I said — in broad daylight having lunch, going shopping, and absolutely zero worries about any consequence from anybody.”
This a concern for shoppers like Zouaze Lao who said she’s felt that there’s been an increase in crimes against the community since 2020.
“I feel like I have to watch my back all the time, and I have to watch my kids’ back. Especially when I have my kids with me, it really worries me a lot. I’m constantly turning around and rushing my kids, and it really worries my husband and me,” Lao said, explaining all six of her children are aware of the dangers they could face in public.
Rejie Baloyos, executive director of Asian Resources, Inc., said the attack of one person is the attack of everybody, which is why they’re partnering up with law enforcement and increasing resources.
“What we can offer is providing anyone out there who are victims of these crimes or these attacks, pretty much language access. So we can provide language access so that they can communicate with law enforcement and report these incidents,” Baloyos said.
Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper and District Attorney Thien Ho will be hosting a town hall meeting focusing on area robberies and their prevention on Thursday at 6 p.m. at the central station located at 7000 65th Street, Sacramento, CA 95823.
The meeting is open to organizations and the general public.
