Sentinel staff report–
A 44-year-old Sacramento man spent his Christmas in jail after Citrus Heights police said he stole bait being tracked by the department.
Police announced the arrest in a Dec. 23 post on social media, accompanied by a booking photo and a hashtag reading “Don’t Steal.” The suspect, Mitchell Wade McWright, was arrested in the area of Auburn Boulevard and Antelope Road, police said, and was on two dockets of probation for “failing to register as a sex offender and possession of narcotics.”
McWright has a lengthy rap sheet according to police, including prior arrests for burglary, grand theft, possessing stolen property, indecent exposure, vandalism, violating probation, and narcotics-related charges.
Online inmate records indicate McWright is ineligible for bail, due to a felony charge that he failed to register a new address within five working days, a requirement for sex offenders. He is also charged with grand theft and buying or receiving stolen property.
His next court date is scheduled for Jan. 2, 2020.
Police: Bait program helping reduce property crime in Citrus Heights
As reported by The Sentinel earlier this year, Citrus Heights police say the department’s highly publicized “bait” program has helped lower property crime in the city.
The department regularly posts mug shots of recent bait arrests on its social media pages, with the goal of making sure would-be criminals know that if they steal in Citrus Heights, there’s a good chance it might be a bait item tracked by the police department.
Last month, police took to social media advising would-be thieves that the department was deploying GPS-tracked “bait” packages to help arrest anyone stealing packages from porches during the holiday season.
The image showed a photo of the door to a home with packages piled in front, accompanied by the message “Porch pirates beware: you never know what might be bait.”