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Author: Sara Beth Williams

  • City announces $2.65M in federal funds for Citrus Heights projects

    By Sara Beth Williams–
    The city announced in a press release last week that Representative Ami Bera (D-CA) has secured more than $2 million in funding for two Citrus Heights-based development projects.

    The funding includes $1.05 million in Community Project Funding for Phase 1 of the Sayonara Housing Development Project, which will go toward building 26 housing units in the 7800 block of Sayonara Drive, and $1.6 million in funding for Intelligent Transportation System Enhancements, which will help fund the installation of 1.3 miles of fiber optic communication system in Citrus Heights, upgrade aging traffic signals and other equipment at 14 intersections, and install CCTV traffic operations cameras.

    “This bipartisan funding package is another example of making government work for the people,” Bera said in the press release, adding that these projects will have a “profound impact in Citrus Heights.”

    Mayor Bret Daniels expressed his gratitude to Bera on behalf of the city, emphasizing that the funds “advance our city’s goals of improving infrastructure and providing housing opportunities for our community.” Daniels said he is “eager” to see how the funds benefit the city.

    No projected timeline for either of the development projects was immediately available.

    The City Council last year entered into a memorandum of understanding with Habitat for Humanity in a 5-0 vote during a March 23 council meeting, where the city agreed to sell 12 vacant lots to the organization for $1 each. As previously reported, Habitat for Humanity will manage the construction of new single-family units over a three-year timeframe and provide long-term oversight of the properties, the document says.

    Low-income families who qualify for the program will help build their new home with 500 hours of service in what the organization calls “sweat equity.” The families enrolled with the program are eligible for a 30-year mortgage with zero interest.

    See prior story for more: City agrees to sell vacant lots on Sayonara Drive for $1 each. Here’s why

  • Suspect with prior homicide record arrested after Citrus Heights armed robbery

    Arrest of armed robbery suspect by CHPD
    Citrus Heights police arrested an armed robbery suspect on March 28, 2024. // Image credit: CHPD

    By Sara Beth Williams–
    Citrus Heights Police responded to an armed robbery last week at a convenience store in the 6100 block of Greenback Lane, later arresting a suspect who was on supervised release for a prior homicide.

    According to a department social media post, the suspect fled the scene by vehicle before officers arrived. The department credited its new Real Time Information Center operator for identifying the suspect using camera footage and “other technological resources.”

    The suspect, a 40-year-old male from North Highlands, was on Post Release Community Supervision (PRCS) for homicide, police said.

    “Clearly, this was a dangerous person who needed to be apprehended,” the Police Department wrote, adding that Citrus Heights IMPACT detectives tracked down and apprehended the suspect on March 28. The suspect is now being held at the Sacramento County Main Jail with a “no-bail PRCS violation” according to police.

    The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation website says Post Release Community Supervision is defined as “supervision provided to an inmate who has been released from a CDCR institution to the jurisdiction of a county agency, pursuant to the Post Release Community Supervision Act of 2011.”

    The 2011 legislation, known as prison realignment, was aimed at addressing the overcrowding of California’s prisons by shifting responsibility from the state to counties for monitoring and incarcerating “lower-level” offenders, according to the Stanford Criminal Justice Center.

  • Police: Victims of man sentenced to 580 years had Citrus Heights ties

    By Sara Beth Williams–
    A man sentenced to 580 years to life in prison last week was accused of assaulting victims in Citrus Heights.

    Kirby Torres was recently sentenced to 580 years to life in prison according to a March 29 news release from the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office. Torres was convicted in October 2023 of 24 lewd acts with children under the age of 14. Five of those lewd acts were found to be committed “with force or fear.”

    Citrus Heights Police Lt. Michael Wells told The Sentinel in an Oct. 17, 2023, email that investigators opened the case in 2020 after an unidentified individual contacted the department. The victims were known to Torres, Wells said.

    The individual contacted Citrus Heights Police because the criminal incidents allegedly occurred locally at the time. Citrus Heights Police issued a warrant for Torres’ arrest after detectives found he was responsible for “numerous sexual crimes against two juveniles,” according to Wells.

    According to the latest District Attorney release, crimes were committed between 2010 and 2020, and the victims were boys and girls between the ages of three and 13.

    Wells noted in October 2023 that all known victims who were allegedly assaulted in Citrus Heights have since moved to other areas. The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office also assisted in the investigation, and a total of seven victims were identified, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

    Torres was arrested in 2020 and has earned “actual custody credit” since that time, according to the District Attorney. Under current California law, Torres will become eligible for release at an Elder Parole hearing after the age of 50 and after serving a minimum of 20 years of his sentence.