A surveillance camera shows a man ringing a doorbell at night and then running away. A video of the Nov. 15 doorbell ditching incident was shown at the Rancho Murieta Community Services District Board meeting on Dec. 20. Courtesy photo

RANCHO MURIETA, CA (MPG) - The monthly Rancho Murieta Community Service District (CSD) security operations report usually includes a myriad of interesting details, and the latest edition delivered at the Dec. 20 board meeting wasn’t an exception.

• Security Chief Kelly Benitez updated the board on seven notable incidents that ranged from an adult doorbell ditcher to commercial area break-ins.

• Benitez also covered a half dozen operational issues that ranged from decreased patrol shift coverage to a complaint from a law enforcement officer.

• A CSD director also raised an issue about the current security budget.

Notable incidents

While doorbell ditching incidents aren’t unusual in Rancho Murieta, a first happened on Nov. 15 because the perpetrator was an adult male and not a juvenile. He also was accompanied by two adults in a white golf cart. Benitez showed a video of the incident that was captured by a doorbell camera.

Benitez said juveniles ranging in age from 12 to 15 years in age have rung the victim’s doorbell in the middle of the night. “But this latest incident caused her great concern because the suspect was clearly an adult, who she didn’t recognize,” he said.

The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office was notified, even though security knew deputies wouldn’t respond. Benitez said the CSD and Rancho Murieta Association Compliance haven’t been able to identify the suspect yet although the video has also been posted on Facebook.

On Nov. 14, a security officer was asked to meet with RMA Compliance to conduct a welfare check on an elderly couple who lived on Ventana Drive. When they couldn’t rouse anyone but noticed a strong odor, they contacted the sheriff’s office. “The foul odor was due to approximately 25 unattended domestic cats in the home without food or water…Some were eating the other dead cats.” Benitez said.

Animal Control rescued most of the cats, according to Benitez. (Animal Control didn’t respond until four days later. The cats were left behind when the elderly couple was taken to a care facility. See the story in the Nov. 24 issue of the River Valley Times.)

Rancho Murieta resident Beth Buderus, who moderates a Facebook page for lost and found pets, contacted Animal Control to see what happened to the cats. She received an email from William Davidson, the supervising animal control officer, who said they had cleared most of the cats from the home.

“Unfortunately, they started to die on us once at the shelter, and it was found they had pan leuk (panleukopenia – feline distemper), so the remaining cats were euthanized,” Davidson wrote.

He explained the disease is extremely contagious and is deadly in a shelter environment. He added that they would have reached out to the owners, but none of the cats had microchips.

Continuing with his report, Benitez said area businesses seem to get hit this time of year. He reported that Go 4 Pizza and the Naan King restaurant both had been burglarized, with the cash register taken from both businesses. He also talked to a contractor whose bobcat tractor was stolen from the construction site for the new veterinary clinic.

“He had left it there overnight, He didn’t have insurance and he didn’t have a tracker on it,” Benitez said. “So, he just lost $20,000.”

The security chief also related another incident involving several college kids home for the break and getting into trouble. One of them tried to squeeze into a child’s swing at Stonehouse Park, and his friends had to cut him out.

Benitez also said CSD had helped RMA with a wildlife incident but didn’t elaborate. (After a country club employee encountered a mountain lion, she showed others an image of an African Lion on her phone, saying it was the animal she had seen. The report caused some consternation for a time. See the story in the Nov. 24 issue of the River Valley Times.)

The security chief also reported that two bikes had been stolen from the lost and found at the North Gate. “The video worked great, so we were able to identify the suspect,” he said. The area was later secured with a padlock.

Operations

Benitez reported that 38 out of 90 patrol shifts weren’t covered in November. That was higher than usual (about 30) because of employees taking sick leave and vacation time.

He said security will hold off purchasing a dashboard camera CSD had planned to buy in conjunction with RMA because of the uncertainty of the security budget.

However, at the recommendation of President Tim Maybee, he ordered new trauma kits for all CSD vehicles. It was prompted by the double shooting at the equestrian center when a patrol officer rendered first aid.

Benitez also reported that a law enforcement officer had complained about getting a speeding ticket when he was on his way to a call in his unmarked patrol vehicle. “Our response was that we didn’t know you were in a police car,” he said. “So, if you want to violate the rules of the road, turn on your lights or sirens so our guys don’t give you a ticket.”

Benitez said RMA will decide what to do about the citation.

Benitez also said he had worked with Lt. Greg Coauette, who lives in the community,  to resolve some issues about when the sheriff’s office should pick up lost and found items from the North Gate.

Security also worked with RMA on a complaint that contractors were coming inside the gates before 7 a.m.  A previous RMA general manager had permitted employees to come in early for a safety briefing, but they were starting work instead.

Security budget.

After Benitez concluded his report, Director Stephen Booth questioned the security budget. He said the administrative allocation this year was for $637,227, which represents a hit of 38.9% to the operational budget. “Kelly, no wonder you have vacant positions and can’t cover patrol shifts,” he told Benitez.
General Manager Mimi Morris told Booth she was in “complete agreement” and said the distribution of administrative costs must be recalibrated according to the level of administrative effort that is being utilized.  “We are kind of baffled how it landed on security at that heavy level,” she said.