Hunting poachers
On the trail of the outlaw shooters threatening the Pacific Deer Herd A black tail deer ducks under some fallen pine branches as a pickup…
Read MoreCrime Beat
An unpredictable call. A heavily armed suspect. An ambush that leaves police searching after the death of Officer Tara O’Sullivan.
Issues of domestic violence, access to guns and officer safety collided during rookie officer’s last call in Sacramento By Raheem F. Hosseini and Mozes Zarate…
A crystalized crisis: As meth trafficking surges, doctors and CPS workers struggle with the fall-out
Ten minutes before sunrise, the team hit the house. The FBI SWAT members approached a darkened stretch of 18th Avenue. The street was narrow, crowded…
The road to peace: New initiative sees signs of progress in combating gang killings in Sacramento
In 2018, the city of Sacramento managed to escape a grim statistic: It made it 12 months without a child being murdered. Now, an initiative…
The Chinese connection: Federal investigators map an international scheme to produce black market marijuana
A dozen arrests and 100 home seizures result from operations When federal agents finally looked inside the Cadillac, they saw multiple house keys, four garage door…
Getting away with an almost murder
A vindictive pimp shot two men 40 years ago. Two retired sex workers say they covered it up—and it’s why California needs to pass legislation…
Undercover deputies solicit and arrest 10 women in ‘Stockton stroll’ prostitution sting that uses condoms as evidence
Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department subverts the messaging of anti-human trafficking coalition to which it belongs The largest prostitution-related sting in Sacramento County this year swept…
Midnight Burning: Three murders, three detectives and the remnants of a savage summer
Doyle Hemling was in his bedroom when a car door slammed in the darkness. Hemling lived on Annabelle Avenue, a one-way country road dipping through…
A Sacramento crime reporter compares notes with Scotland’s top crime novelist
Ian Rankin’s research and hardened realism has universal appeal I first learned of Scotland’s literary shadow weaver while strolling down Edinburgh’s Young Street in 2015. I’d…
What the bones say: Arrest in grisly murder made with luck, determination and a tale beyond the crime tape
The hikers stopped when they saw the skeleton splayed out along the manzanita and scrub brush. It was weather-beaten. A cervical vertebra was missing from…
Corporate cartel logic
Sacramento and Amador among 31 California counties claiming that Big Pharma companies perpetrated an organized criminal conspiracy For Chris, it started with a trip to…
Nowhere to go: Crammed shelters, a seller’s market and financial challenges brew recipe for a domestic violence disaster
On March 10, Sacramento police Detective Michael Severi sat in a courtroom describing a crime scene from last summer, after officers rushed into a house to…
Gunning for the source: ATF’s gun-tracing investigations are solving crimes across California
A Roseville police officer shot in the face by a .45-caliber Glock in October 2013; a 13-year-old gunned down on the streets of Stockton with…
A Sleepless case: How detectives, prosecutors won groundbreaking Ambien double-murder trial
Placer County attorneys spent weeks battling over whether two teenagers were killed by a recklessly dangerous pill-popper or an accidental victim of Ambien-induced parasomnia. The…
The bling ring: Illegal gambling operation tied to ‘rich-as-f***’ gang in Sacramento
For the second time in four years, law enforcement has broken up an illegal gambling operation in California run by Israeli nationals. The latest investigation…
Ghost of a chance: Battle brews over new anti-ghost gun bill at the state Capitol
A former police officer looks to tackle untraceable assault weapons Mike Gipson smiled as he walked through a lamp-studded hallway inside the state Capitol. Not…
The music ends: Rapper Lizk sentenced to 30-years-to-life for simple gun possession
Performer’s situation draws sympathy from the judge handing out the sentence At 25 years old, Deandre Rogers is officially out of strikes. The South Sacramento…