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Driver who hit Citrus Heights power pole arrested for DUI, hit & run

Police and firefighters gather near a CHPD vehicle at the scene of a power pole collision Tuesday night, after apprehending a driver who was reportedly fleeing the scene. // CH Sentinel

Citrus Heights police said a 26-year-old was arrested after he crashed his vehicle into a power pole on Antelope Road late Tuesday and then tried to flee the scene. The collision resulted in thousands of homes in the area temporarily losing power for up to three hours.

In an email statement to The Sentinel late Wednesday, Officer Wesley Herman said police responded to a reported solo-vehicle collision with a power pole on the 7000 block of Antelope Road around 11:30 p.m., with responding officers finding the driver of the vehicle “fleeing from the scene of the accident.”

Herman said the driver was “actively defiant with officers during their instructions, but was eventually detained.”

The driver, identified by police as Andrew Tolbert of Sacramento, was subsequently arrested for DUI, hit-and-run collision, “resisting/delaying/obstructing a public officer,” and violating probation, according to Officer Herman. Police said Tolbert was on probation for domestic battery, resisting arrest, burglary, and several other offenses.

After police said he was “medically cleared,” Tolbert was taken to the Sacramento County main jail. Herman said the driver “sustained minor superficial wounds during the time he was resisting arrest.”

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According to SMUD’s online outage map, more than 16,000 customers in the Citrus Heights area lost power at 11:33 p.m. on Tuesday, apparently from the collision. A SMUD truck arrived shortly after midnight and could be seen shining a light on the pole, which was leaning over towards Antelope Road, although still mostly upright.

Residents on Mariposa Avenue and some other areas reported having their power restored by around 12:20 a.m. Wednesday, and most others had power back on by 2:30 a.m., according to SMUD’s website.

See prior story for additional photos and comment from a witness: “Vehicle hits power pole; 16,000 Citrus Heights residents lose power”

March 10, 2016
Man’s 15-hour standoff with Citrus Heights police ends in arrest

Citrus Heights police surrounded a home during a 12-hour stand-off with a possibly armed man, Thursday.

Citrus Heights police said an arrest was made Thursday night in a domestic violence incident involving a possibly armed man who “barricaded” himself in his home and caused a 15-hour standoff with police.

58-year-old David Wilt was arrested around 10 p.m. Thursday, after a Citrus Heights SWAT team entered the home and found him hiding in a bathroom, Officer Wesley Herman said in a news release. Police said Wilt was to be treated at a hospital for “minor injuries” before being booked in the Sacramento County jail for felony domestic battery, resisting arrest and a firearms charge.

Officers had initially responded to the 6300 block of Trenton Way, near Auburn Boulevard, around 6:40 a.m. for a reported domestic violence incident involving a man and a woman, according to police. Responding officers were able to “safely remove” the woman involved, but were unable to get the man to exit the home.

“Based on the nature of the crime and the report of a firearm,” police said a SWAT team and Crisis Negotiation Team were deployed, parking the Department’s Mine Resistant Armor Protected vehicle next to the home.

Throughout the afternoon, neighbors looked on from a distance as SWAT officers with rifles drawn could be seen outside the Trenton Way home. Police said tear gas and a Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department specialized robot were utilized in an attempt to “conclude the standoff peacefully.”

[Prior story: Citrus Heights SWAT surround home; man inside possibly armed]

Although the standoff happened on the same block as Arlington Heights Elementary School, the school district said police had determined a lock-down was not necessary, according to a statement on the San Juan Unified School District’s Twitter account.

According to the Sacramento Bee, a family member said the Wilt suffers from a bipolar disorder and has a live-in caretaker who called police.

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April 17, 2015
Citrus Heights Police Seek Help to ID Theft Suspects

Photo of one suspect police say was caught on camera stealing welding equipment at a Citrus Heights store

Updated Oct. 18, 1:05 p.m. —
Citrus Heights police emailed and tweeted a request for help Friday night, seeking assistance from the community to identify two suspects who are alleged to have been caught on camera stealing a welding tool valued at over $1,000 from Barnes Welding Supply in Citrus Heights.

Police say on October 10, around 12:45 p.m., two suspects walked into the welding store at 6005 Auburn Blvd in Citrus Heights, and were observed to be engaged in suspicious activity.

A Miller Electric TIG welding machine was taken off the shelf and brought to a waiting vehicle, without being paid for, according to police. The vehicle appeared to be a newer model silver Toyota Sequoia, and was seen driving away south on Auburn Boulevard toward Manzanita Avenue.

“Our smaller, family-owned businesses work tirelessly to keep their prices competitive and can’t afford to take losses of this magnitude due to the greed of a few,” said officer Wesley Herman in a press release containing photos of the suspects. “The photographs attached are very good quality and we’re certain that someone in the community will recognize these two theft suspects and assist us in identifying them.”

Citrus Heights police say the investigation is ongoing, and request that anyone who witnessed the incident, or has related information information, contact the Department’s Investigative Services Division at (916) 727-5500.

Photo released by Citrus Heights police, showing two suspects accused of stealing a piece of welding equipment from Barnes Welding Supply.

October 18, 2014
‘Bait Vehicle’ Signs Raise Questions from Residents

An electronic sign warns passerby’s of bait vehicles around Citrus Heights // CHSentinel

Ever wonder what’s going on with the large “bait vehicle” signs around Citrus Heights?

If so, you’re not alone, as questions about the signs have been brought up by residents at several community meetings in the past few months.

To find out the story behind the signs, The Sentinel checked in with Officer Wesley Herman of the Citrus Heights Police Department, who said the signs are part of the Department’s auto-theft prevention efforts.

Explaining that “bait vehicles” look just like any other vehicle on the street, Officer Herman said the only difference is that they’re equipped with a hidden GPS tracking device and strategically placed in areas where police have observed high theft or crime trends, with the hope that criminals “bite.”

Around North America, such vehicles have successfully been used to catch thieves, with some “bait” cars featuring remote door locking, hidden cameras, and an ignition “kill switch” to shut the vehicle off remotely. When British Columbia instituted a bait car program in 2003, a 75 percent drop in vehicle thefts over an 11-year period was documented, according to an Insurance Corporation of British Columbia study.

Although bait vehicles are equipped to help officers track and arrest car thieves, Officer Herman said the primary purpose of the program is to prevent auto-theft from happening in the first place — giving reason to why the big orange and black warning signs are regularly deployed in high-traffic areas around Citrus Heights.

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“We try to be the least attractive girl at the dance,” the officer remarked, explaining that the highly visible “bait vehicle” signs help prevent crime by notifying would-be auto thieves that unmarked, random vehicles in Citrus Heights are actively being tracked.

“They don’t know if we have one, twenty, or any out,” said the officer, calling it a type of “psychological war” on criminal minds.

His message to would-be Citrus Heights thieves is: “Hey, go ahead and steal a car — it might be one of ours.”

October 8, 2014