Rash of eye clinic burglaries hits Sacramento region
A thief ransacked Dr. Cecille Taylor’s eye clinic in Folsom around midnight on Valentine’s Day.
The burglar is seen on surveillance video stealing about $10,000 worth of Oakley sunglasses, a laptop and cash. It turns out her office is one of at least eight clinics that thieves have targeted across the Valley this past year.
“Your personal space has been invaded by somebody and you just wonder: What kind of person does this?" ophthalmologist Dr. Robert Miller said.
Burglars have broken into clinics in Sacramento, Elk Grove, Woodland, Folsom and Vacaville. Miller’s clinic in Davis is one of the more recent clinics that was hit.
“They had cased the joint before,” Miller said. “They knew what frames and where the cabinets were.”
At least six of the clinics captured the burglaries on surveillance cameras. Miller said you can see the thieves utilize similar methods in each, like the thieves cutting out the glass to break in, crawling around to avoid triggering motion detectors and knowing exactly where the items they want to steal are located. Miller said he couldn’t turn a blind eye anymore.
“It’s personal. So you bet I’ve started to lead the charge,” he said.
A thief stole about $22,000 worth of frames from his business. So the ophthalmologist spoke with the other doctors to investigate the thefts himself.
“I started collecting videos and it turns out: I think it’s the same people,” he said.
He put together a report summarizing each incident and hopes his detective work catches law enforcement’s eye.
“It just seems like there’s enough incidents that some sort of a task force can be done. But I recognize law enforcement has its hands filled with many bigger things than this,” he said. “But it’d be nice if something was done.”
Law enforcement jurisdictions in each case confirmed that the burglaries happened, but at this time do not have any leads. Until then, Miller said he is keeping watch.
“It’s certainly gonna be a tough crime to crack, unless we get that one break,” he said. “And most of us now have cameras outside and we’re watching for that moment.”