Stockton Police Alarmed After Home Invasion Robbers Pose As Law Enforcement
STOCKTON (CBS13) - A home invasion robbery Thursday morning in Stockton was carried out by men dressed as law enforcement.
It happened around 6:15 a.m. on Fox Creek Drive, not far from Ansel Adams Elementary School. Police say four to five men wearing sheriff's raid vests, and armed with guns, entered a home and stole cash and marijuana.
Then police say the men stole the victims' truck to get away.
There's no getting around Koko Madrigal-Parker if you're trying to get your hands on law enforcement supplies, and that includes sheriff's body armor.
"What we do with raid vests or body armor, it's made to order and we size the person and then we order it for them," said Madrigal-Parker.
After several break-ins at her shop over the years, she had security bars installed on all the windows and no longer carries tactical equipment ready-to-purchase.
Every customer must prove they work in law enforcement, or Madrigal-Parker says they will be asked to leave.
"We normally ask who they belong to and they will pull out an ID," she said.
But according to Stockton Police Officer Joe Silva, "unfortunately, some people can go on the internet and purchase law enforcement equipment that way."
CBS13 tried to order a sheriff's raid vest from eBay and was not asked to provide any form of identification.
"It's something we are going to be looking into and see why and how these companies can sell this type of equipment to the public," Silva said.
Silva says the department is alarmed at how the suspects were able to pull off the robbery posing as law enforcement. He says police officers and sheriff's deputies usually identify themselves and provide a warrant during a home search or a raid.
"The motive for this crime was possibly a drug rip-off because there was an illegal marijuana grow at the house," Silva added.
And that's the kind of situation Madrigal-Parker says she wants to avoid; she says she'd rather lose her sale than place tactical equipment into the wrong hands.
"I don't want to have it in my conscience that something I sold was used in a crime."
Stockton police are still searching for suspects who are described as Asian or Hispanic males. Police also say the suspects stole the victims' 2008 Grey Toyota Tundra truck with the license plate number 8L83847.
Anyone with information is being asked to call Stockton police.
