Nearly 90 vehicles still impounded as San Joaquin County tops 100 days since last sideshow
SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY -- Three months after a sideshow bust in Stockton, nearly 90 vehicles are still at the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office and are considered evidence.
Car after car is lined up on the secure premises and it's been like that since February, when the San Joaquin County Sideshow Taskforce detained 150 people and impounded nearly 90 vehicles. Those vehicles were properly searched for evidence and authorities found six illegal firearms in the process.
The taskforce is made up of the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office, California Highway Patrol, Lodi Police Department, and the Stockton Police Department.
The vehicle owners won't get their cars back before the end of the investigation and legal proceedings. The sheriff's office has sent 100 referrals to the San Joaquin District Attorney's Office for review, which takes time.
In no coincidence, it's been more than 100 days since there was a sideshow in San Joaquin County. That's not an invitation but a warning.
"Sometimes if you do the crime, you gotta do the time," said Richard Garcia, a Detective Sergeant on the task force with the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office.
Garcia played an integral role in the February 2024 sideshow operation that required multiple agencies and quick thinking. He said for more than two years, authorities had 12-15 operations to crack down on sideshows. Through those, he said, they learned from the successes and the mistakes to land on the mega-bust in February.
With 18 hours to prepare after a tip that sideshow activity would be happening in Stockton, the task force got prepared to respond.
"They're not controlled, they're not monitored, it's literally a group of kids putting together criminal activity," said Garcia.
The sheriff's office categorizes the sideshow activity as felony vandalism. With these considerations, the vehicles involved are considered evidence and can be impounded until the end of the investigation.
It does not cost the sheriff's office to park the vehicles on the property and it does not cost the vehicle owners for their cars to stay there. However, Garcia explained, fees may be involved at the end of court proceedings if restitution is required.
CBS13 asked if the department considers itself a blueprint for solving sideshows.
"Hopefully we will be when these cases are over," said Garcia.
Law enforcement agencies in Los Angeles County, Philadelphia, and the United Kingdom have contacted the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office for insights on how their sideshow crackdown success.
