Dear Editor,
On Wednesday February 8th around 1am after a performance at The Plea For Peace in Stockton, CA, my band EVOLOVE pulled into the Denny’s located at 642 W. Charter Way between Dr. Martin Luther King Blvd and S. Harrison Street for a quick bite before heading back on the road. Within a 30 minute period our vehicle was vandalized and $4,000 of gear was stolen from us, literally under our nose. Our first reaction was to call 911. The dispatcher informed us that no police unit would be sent out and our only option was to file a report.
In this day and age there is a lot of technology that protects consumers from these exact incidents. One of the items stolen from us was a brand new iPad2. Right away we realized we could track the iPad through my iPhone via an App that we had downloaded previous to leaving for tour. With this knowledge in hand, we flagged down a passing by city cop hoping for help retrieving our stolen gear. The officer proceeded to inform us he was on a break. After pleading with him, he called dispatch who reiterated that our only option was to file a report online. Upon giving us this news he then proceeded to carry on with his dinner plans and drove into the McDonalds drive-through.
Enraged with the options at hand, and knowing we had a short period of time in which our gear would remain local, we took action. My 4 bandmates jumped into our vehicle and proceeded to the address showing up on our tracker at approximately the corner of Berkeley Avenue and Fairfax Road. Upon reaching the suspected criminal’s house, 911 dispatch was contacted again by my band to be informed that action was about to take place in an attempt to retrieve our stolen goods. Dispatch told my bandmates to contact the County Sheriff because the property was out of city limits. A call was then placed to the County Sheriff and dispatch referred them back to City police since the crime occurred in city limits.
Frustrated by the run around, the boys took matters into their own hands. The suspects came out of their house to ask my bandmates what they were doing. After the suspect was informed that our gear had been tracked to that location and police had been notified, he denied the information and went back into the house. At the same time, another car had pulled up to the home but after hearing what we were in search of, they promptly got back in their car and took off. Within minutes, our tracker showed that the iPad had made a sudden jump in location, as if it had been tossed.
Still stuck at Denny’s with no idea of what was happening with my band and worried of what may happen once the suspects were confronted, I panicked and called dispatch a fourth time stating my fear for their lives. At this point dispatch decided to send out a unit. Informing my band that officers were en route to take a report, they returned to the Denny’s for questioning. While interviewing me, the officers tried to convince me that my GPS Tracker/alarm was merely a scam by Apple to help sales and was not accurate enough to clearly pinpoint my iPad’s location. This was their excuse for not wanting to take action. In an attempt to bring this problem to light and not necessarily call out particular officers I would prefer not to publish their names in this letter to you.
After much convincing, the boys persuaded the cops to investigate the location that they had scouted and confront the suspect. Since my bandmates had a strong belief that the gear may have been tossed in a back yard, the officers agreed to investigate the area. Once they arrived on location they called us and told us to set off our alarm, which can be activated remotely from another Apple device. Our suspicions were correct, the alarm was heard by the officers and in one of the nearby yards, our iPad was located. Although our iPad was found, the officers only took the names and info of the people in the household. One of the officers noted that the appearance of the house showed that this was a pretty big theft ring operation.
How is it that a rock band has more investigation skills than the Stockton City Police and the San Joaqin County Police combined? Not only did we hand-hold the officers to the location, we uncovered a crime den. It would appear to me that in the city of Stockton, vigilante justice may be the only option left for a safer society. With no repercussions for thieves and no follow through by law enforcement, it is no wonder to me that Stockton was named in the top 10 of “America’s Most Miserable Cities” by Forbes Magazine. Here here to Vigilance and shame shame on law enforcement! If you want something done right, you better be prepared to take action yourself. I truly hope that you will publish this letter.
Sincerely a concerned and active citizen of California,
Lucy Levinsohn
Evolovetheband@gmail.com
Posted by Evolove |
Last night after our show in Stockton, our vehicle was vandalized. The window was smashed in and a bunch of our personal belongings were stolen. As a band we have lost about $4,000 in electronics. In hindsight there are many things we would have done differently to protect ourselves. We do not have insurance on any of the items that were taken. Lessons have been learned. In times of need we have come to you in the past. You have always showed us your support and kindness. We have started a paypal fundraiser in the attempt to recover some of these losses. Anyone who donates will receive 2 BRAND NEW songs (MP3s) from EVOLOVE’s upcoming acoustic record that comes out in March. Thank you in advance for always having our back.
