Police arrested a man suspected of robbing a bank at gunpoint Thursday morning in Oak Park. The robbery was at the U.S. Bank in Oak Park, at Broadway and 34th Street, and occurred at 9:50 a.m. Following the robbery, the suspect got into a gray pickup truck and hit a parked vehicle and police cruiser, before leading police on a car chase down Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. He eventually collided with a van while heading southbound on Martin Luther King Boulevard, at 12th Street.  The suspect was identified as 45-year-old Ruben Rodriguez, and was arrested on suspicion of robbery, assault on an officer, evading and using a firearm in the commission of a felony. A search of his truck rev

Police have arrested a man and his girlfriend believed to be connected to last Friday's arson/murder on Norwood Avenue, which left a 32-year-old man dead in his home. More details about the incident have also been released, including that the victim was stabbed before the fire was set.  David Acuna, 29, was arrested Wednesday morning on suspicion of murdering 32-year-old Patrick Kendrick. Acuna's girlfriend, 30-year-old Guadalupe Cabrera, is also believed to have been involved in the incident. She was arrested on suspicion of accessory to murder, and arson to an inhabited structure, according to the Sacramento Police Department.  During the course of the investigation, SPD detectives lea

Matthew Piner was on the phone with his parents, his wife was out shopping, and his son was on a bike ride Sunday afternoon, when he heard the screeching of the upstairs smoke alarm. When he reached the top floor – an attic converted into a master bedroom suite – all he saw was broken glass, flames and smoke. He tried putting the fire out with an extinguisher, but by then, it was beyond anything he could do. "It's my baby, it's my showpiece," said Piner, an architect and contractor who'd remodeled much of the historic, four-story home. The 1903 foursquare home on Capitol Avenue between 25th and 26th Streets,  "was deemed worthy of tearing down by some when it was purchased in 1989," acco

Patrick Kendrick's neighbors thought they heard his cries as flames rose from his apartment, but when they broke down the door to reach him, they realized it was too late. "We had to break the door open in order to get to him, but by the time we tried to run in there and get him, it was on fire, it was all blazed up, couldn't help him," neighbor Eric Kelley said. Police are investigating the "unusual circumstances" that led to the man's death Friday morning on the 3700 block of Norwood Avenue in Del Paso Heights. Kendrick was found inside his apartment after the fire was extinguished by the Sacramento Fire Department. Due to the "obvious trauma" found on his upper body, police were c

Sacramento firefighters arrived to find a lot of flames coming from the windows of a Victorian apartment at 5th Street and D streets on Wednesday evening, Jan. 9, according to Jonathan Williams, battalion chief for the Sacramento Fire Department. The call was dispatched a little after 6 p.m. “We had multiple calls of a three-story Victorian with fire coming from between the first- and second-floor area,” Williams said. “The first in engine found fire coming from the rear of the second-floor area, and initiated fire attack. We sent some crews to the roof to vent (cut holes in the roof), just in case it went up the walls into the attic space.” The blaze was contained to one room. There wer

Sacramento fire crews were dispatched to a report of flames coming from a Victorian home in Midtown early Tuesday morning. The fire displaced a family of three, but none of the residents were hurt. Just after 1:30 a.m. Tuesday morning, the Sacramento Fire Department responded to the 1300 Block of Q Street for a report of a residential structure fire. When fire crews arrived they found a two story Victorian home with three apartments on fire with flames coming out the roof, according to Battalion Chief Scott Williams. The cause of the fire is under investigation, Williams said, and Red Cross would be called out to take care of the displaced family of three. Check back on this story for m

A block of downtown Sacramento was closed to traffic Monday afternoon as fire officials investigated a small fire that brought out the Hazmat team. There was no official word late Monday afternoon about the need for the hazardous materials team. The fire was the result of people inside lighting a fire to stay warm, said Sacramento Fire Department Assistant Chief Niko King, but "it didn't get out of control." The incident, on 8th Street, between L and K streets, occurred shortly before 2 p.m. in what appeared to be a vacant building. A man was reportedly arrested after being found with a backpack full of wire and pipes. We will update this story as more details become available. Editor’

Firefighters, medics and police were dispatched to X Street and 18th Street just before 3 o’clock Saturday afternoon for a two car collision that sent three people to the hospital. According to on scene authorities, the driver of a gray Pontiac Grand Am was eastbound on X Street when the vehicle collided with a black Jeep Cherokee heading north on 18th Street. One victim was extricated from the Cherokee. As ambulances arrived, firefighter/medics treated the victims, placing them on backboards and preparing them for transport to the hospital. The actual cause and fault of the accident is under investigation. Editor’s note: The “News Digest” goes out every Tuesday morning and highlights

Although fire officials suspect arson in the blaze that destroyed part of the Mckinley Park playground Saturday, City Councilman Steve Cohn said it’s important to remember that the city can’t be sure that the fire was deliberate. “We’re calling it arson because it was caused by human action, but we don’t know if it was deliberate to destroy the structure,” Cohn said. “A lot of fires start through carelessness, and in this case I don’t know if we’re ever going to know what really happened.” The fire will be investigated by collecting evidence, interviewing neighbors and potential witnesses and reaching out to the public for tips on the department’s arson tip-line, according to Ed Bassett,

The City Council will consider a resolution Tuesday to allow the Sacramento Fire Department to hike the cost of ambulance rides in the city by nearly 22 percent, and more than double the charges for being treated but not transported by firefighters. The Sacramento Fire Department is a designated 9-1-1 transport agency for emergency medical services, and the service is paid for by fees charged to patients. City staff reported to the City Council Thursday that current fees are well under that of private agencies providing similar service – and not enough to fully recover the cost of providing the service. The department is proposing a $240 increase for the base rate for all levels of emerg

Sacramento, CA | When a fire truck crew arrived on scene of a house ablaze Thursday afternoon, they had to wait for an engine with water to arrive from a distance. Thursday afternoon, Sacramento firefighters were called out to a blaze in the Oak Park area. When Truck 6 arrived in three minutes (trucks carry no water) the structure was fully involved with fire. The first engine, Engine 10 (carrying water), arrived in 6-8 minutes; Engine 6 (who likely would have arrived with Truck 6) was browned out due to budget cuts. Fortunately this was an unoccupied home which had burned a couple of years ago but had not been torn down. Chief Chris Ortiz explained that fire grows exponentially and lite

As a leader you have to stand for something.  There are times when ambiguousness, inaction and a soft voice are unacceptable – times when you can’t keep your head down hoping to emerge with no blood stains, scrapes or cuts. Our city is telling employees to start paying all of the employee portions of retirement or face deep staffing cuts.  According to one news report, “62 firefighters and 34 police officers face losing their jobs.”  Now, Mayor Johnson and council members need to tell us what they stand for.  Each council member should make some detailed comments on the current proposed cuts to the fire and police departments.  As of Sunday, May 20th, none of our elected had a position pa

Sacramento, CA | Busy morning Downtown commute interrupted Tuesday morning when a vehicle crashed into a building. Close to 7:30 Tuesday morning, the busy downtown commute was interrupted when a woman driving east on J Street, reportedly felt sick and passed out behind the wheel. Her vehicle hopped the curb and crashed into "Patino Building" at 1010 J St. The driver was transported to hospital via paramedics.

Investigative & Lifesaving Gear to Honor Fallen on 9/11 A volunteer neighborhood association in North Natomas collected over $6,600 using old-fashioned community fundraising to purchase equipment for their nearest fire and police stations in anticipation of the upcoming ten year anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and to honor the sacrifices of hundreds of public safety personnel who perished on that day. The gifts will be presented to captains of the police and fire departments in a ceremony at the association's fourth annual National Night Out celebration in Witter Ranch Park on Tuesday evening. Witter Ranch Community Alliance, which covers nearly 1,400 detached homes and over 4

Sacramento, CA | A level 3 Hazmat situation shuts down a large industrial area in South Sacramento. Budget weakend hazmat team has to reach out with unusual mutual aid requests.  Wednesday morning, the Sacramento City Fire Department was called to Mike and Sons Inc, in the 8500 block of Elder Creek Road, for a commercial trailer fire. When firefighters arrived “they realized the doors were shut and there was a very pungent odor; so they turned this into a level three hazmat which is the highest level of hazmat response that we have”, Niko King, Assistant Chief for Sacramento City Fire Department stated. As things progressed, they contacted the shipper and the property owner discovering t

The Sacramento City Council’s tentative decision last week to make major cuts to public safety brings police and firefighter jobs into the spotlight. Six City Council members said they intend to raise the number of brownouts or alternating closures of fire services from two to four. While the city has no plans to lay off firefighters, the public debate over possible cuts to public safety begs the question: How much do firefighters in the city get paid? How do their benefits work? The brownouts may be part of the final budget the City Council is expected to approve on June 21. The city is facing a $39 million deficit. The Sacramento Press published a guide to police officers’ pay and be

The Sacramento City Council’s tentative decision Tuesday night to make severe budget cuts to public safety is not final, but it made a big statement. Council members voted 6-3 to say they intend to make budget cuts later this month that include layoffs of 82 sworn cops and increases in brownouts or alternating closures for fire services. A big caveat to the tentative decision is the council’s statement that it is still open to further negotiations with the city’s public safety unions. Tuesday’s hearing drew intense public interest. Many people arrived more than an hour early to the 6 p.m. meeting. Shortly before 5 p.m., about 70 people waited in line for the doors at City Hall to open.

If you thought the last few budget hearings on proposed budget cuts to the city’s parks, police and fire services were heated, just wait until June 7. At the close of a nearly four-hour budget meeting on proposed cuts to the Sacramento Fire Department Tuesday night, the City Council unanimously decided to discuss the cuts again on June 7. But the June 7 meeting will be different from previous hearings because the council decided it will discuss all the controversial budget cuts – to the Parks and Recreation, Police and Fire departments – at that time. Councilman Rob Fong said the cuts should be discussed all at the same time because the city does not have enough money to prevent cuts to

About 150 firefighters and their families protested the city’s budget proposal Tuesday night to cut $9.1 million from the Sacramento Fire Department. As part of press conference held to protest the cuts, the fire department staffers stood in a large group outside City Hall to show their opposition. The city is facing a $39 million budget gap for the 2011/2012 fiscal year. The idea to make cuts to the Fire Department is included in the budget plan proposed by Interim City Manager Bill Edgar and Interim Deputy City Manager Betty Masuoka. Final decisions on the budget will be made by the Sacramento City Council next month. A group called Protect Sacramento, led by Sacramento Area Fire Fight

Sacramento, CA | Fists and bottles fly early Saturday morning at Parlare Euro Lounge, leaving one person in serious condition. Just around midnight Saturday, a fight started at the Parlare Euro Lounge on the corner of 10th and J Streets in downtown Sacramento. “The fight spilled out from the club into the street. One of the security guards was hit in the head with a bottle, subsequently fought with the original suspect who in turn, turned and fought with another suspect who was also hit with a bottle,” Sargent Wendy Brown, Sacramento Police Department stated. Later the area was deemed a tapped off crime scene with CSI collecting evidence and photos as one of the injured person’s conditi