California City Attorney threatens to punish Target store for repeatedly reporting thefts at store in crime-ridden state

A city attorney in California has threatened to punish a Target store for repeatedly reporting thefts at the store in the crime-ridden state.

Sacramento City Attorney Susana Alcala Wood's office said the retail store located at 2505 Riverside Blvd. in Land Park will be fined and slapped with a public nuisance charge if it continues to call police when there is a theft at the store.

A person familiar with the incident, who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisal, told The Sacramento Bee that city officials warned that an administrative fine would also be charged.

Pursuing legal action against a business for reporting a crime has prompted lawmakers to add an amendment to a retail theft bill making such threats illegal.

Sacramento City Attorney Susana Alcala Wood's (pictured) office issued a warning and will be charged with public nuisance if the Target at 2505 Riverside Blvd. in Land Park will continues to call police when there is a theft at the store

Alexander Gammelgard, president of the California Police Chiefs Association, who testified at the Assembly’s first retail theft committee meeting in December, appeared stunned by recent news and explained there is no 'place for that.'

'I ... (was) also surprised that anyone would ever attempt to make a nuisance case out of somebody calling to report a legitimate crime,' he told the Bee.  

Wood's office and the Sacramento Police Department told ABC45 News they were unaware such a threat had been made.

Under the Proposition 47 initiative that was passed in 2014, lower-level crimes were set as misdemeanors and $950 felony threshold set for shoplifting.

But many were opposed to the voter-approved plan that they believe has been the cause of the escalating theft in their state.

According to reports, Governor Gavin Newsom has been working to tighten penalties on retail theft offenses by introducing a package with 14 bills specifically dealing with this issue later this year.

Newsom is working alongside Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas and state Senator Mike McGuire. They believe their legislation will help minimize retail theft crimes, rather than reform changes to Proposition 47, as per the news outlet.

However, California’s Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber, Ph.D. announced in June that she was gathering signatures to place a measure to reform Proposition 47 on the November ballot.

A couple is seen walking into the Target in Auburn before surveillance footage capture them stealing from the retailer 

They were accused of swapping merchandise in boxes

Retail theft has been on the rise in the state of California.

On Friday, nearly 100 robbers ransacked a gas station in the middle of the night in Oakland that was captured on surveillance footage.

The raid came just days after Oakland's progressive mayor bragged about a drop in crime in the crime-ridden city.

In June, nearly twenty robbers swarmed a jewelry store in broad daylight at the Hacienda Shopping Center on the 700 block of E. El Camino Real near Sunnyvale, California.

The thieves smashed jewelry cases with hammers and other weapons, and were later arrested.

A couple in 2021 were arrested in a Target in Auburn after they were accused of swapping merchandise in boxes, CBS News Sacramento reported. 

Sacramento's Democratic District Attorney Thien Ho filed a lawsuit against the Democrat-led city in September 2023 over failure to clean up homeless encampments, escalating tensions between city leaders.

After filing the suit, Ho said, 'wee have more homeless people in Sacramento than San Francisco. The community is at a breaking point.'

According to police data obtained by The Bee, there were 375 calls related to theft, robbery and shoplifting in 2023, up from about 175 in 2022 and 87 in 2021 - reported from three different Target locations in Sacramento.

The majority of calls, however, did not result in a crime report, an arrest or citation.