SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Business owners along J Street in Midtown Sacramento are demanding answers after nine businesses were burglarized overnight, creating a wave of concern among local shop owners. The incidents unfolded across multiple blocks, with businesses reporting broken windows, damaged doors and stolen property.
Among those targeted was Joneck’s Wine Bar, where owner Renee Joneck was asleep when her phone alerted her to activity at the business at around 4:30 a.m. Wednesday.
When she checked the security system, she realized someone had broken into the business. Joneck said she could see the person on the security footage and immediately began shouting through the camera’s microphone.
“The violation of watching this was intense, and I’m just screaming,” Joneck said. “We have the video up here that has a microphone, so I’m screaming into the microphone, ‘Get out! I see you. We’re recording you.’”
Suspect Takes Time Inside Wine Bar
According to Joneck, the alarm activated as soon as the person entered the business. But she said the suspect did not immediately leave.
“The alarm went off immediately when you got in here, but I’m assuming it went off with everyone,” she explained.
Despite the alarm, the suspect allegedly continued searching through the business, went outside and eventually spent time packing belongings before leaving with a bicycle.
Joneck said the suspect’s apparent lack of urgency was particularly frustrating because the alarm had already been triggered. The incident was not isolated.
Police and business owners confirmed that nine businesses were burglarized along J Street during the overnight crime spree.
Bookstore Also Left With Broken Glass
The East Village Bookshop, located just two blocks from Joneck’s Wine Bar, was another business targeted. Employee Jalila Chehab described the scene when she arrived at work.
“When I got to work, it was just glass all over the floor on the outside and on the inside,” Chehab said.
Security footage from inside the bookstore reportedly captured the suspect attempting to open the cash register. The person allegedly yanked the register out and, according to Chehab, took everything inside.
The damage left employees dealing with the aftermath while police began investigating whether the bookstore burglary was connected to the other incidents.
Suspect Appears to Travel by Bicycle
The pattern emerging from the burglaries has business owners convinced that the incidents may have been part of the same overnight spree.
Chehab said businesses in the area were quickly communicating with one another after the break-ins.
“We got a call from the Birkenstock store saying they had a car right in front of their store that got broken into and they have footage of that,” she said. “It seems like it was just something that was happening last night.”
According to business owners, the suspect appeared to use a bicycle to travel from store to store, attempting to break into businesses along J Street.
Some businesses have told that their surveillance footage appears to show the same person breaking into multiple locations.
Business Owners Demand More Action
The repeated burglaries have left local business owners frustrated and concerned about security.
Joneck said she does not blame Sacramento police for the situation, praising officers for their response and acknowledging the resources available to them.
“This is a city problem, not police,” Joneck said. “The police are coming and doing what they can, how they can, with the resources that they are provided, and I commend them because they were phenomenal.”
However, she said small businesses need stronger protection and better communication when crime occurs in the area.
“There’s not a protection of small businesses. There’s a lack of transparency and communication of what’s happening, and there isn’t a protection of businesses,” she said.
Joneck added that she has spent decades in different neighborhoods and described the situation as something she had never experienced before.
Sacramento Police Investigate Possible Connection
Sacramento police said officers have investigated each reported burglary and forwarded the cases to their burglary detectives. Investigators are also looking into whether the incidents are connected.
That question could become central to the investigation as detectives review security footage from the businesses and compare details from each break-in.
For business owners along J Street, the hope is that the investigation will quickly identify whoever is responsible and prevent another wave of break-ins.
Until then, the overnight spree has left nine businesses dealing with damage, stolen property and growing concerns about safety in the Midtown Sacramento business community.
Do you think the nine burglaries were connected? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
