On Tuesday, February 21st, 2023, at 12:46 pm, the Turlock Police Department was dispatched to a reported shoplift in progress at The Home Depot, 2800 Countryside Dr, Turlock, after a known shoplifter had been spotted by a loss prevention officer inside the business selecting merchandise.

While officers were responding, the suspect, Ricky Agundez, 42, of Turlock, discarded the merchandise he had selected and exited the business. He then got into a vehicle being driven by a female accomplice and they took off northbound through the parking lot.

An officer then arrived and was flagged down by the loss prevention officer who pointed out the vehicle Agundez was in as it was in front of Target.

The officer quickly caught up to the vehicle and made a traffic stop on it based on the reasonable suspicion he had that Agundez was in it and knowing that he had warrants.

The officer made contact with and identified the vehicle’s driver, while also confirming that Agundez was in it.

The officer had his dispatcher run the two, and sure enough, Agundez returned with three felony no-bail bench warrants and 23 misdemeanor bench warrants or warrants of arrest. 22 warrants were from various agencies from here within Stanislaus County, while four were from various Bay Area agencies. The charges within the warrants included grand theft, forgery, shoplifting, possession of burglary tools, attempted burglary, and petty theft.

Agundez was arrested and booked into the Stanislaus County Public Safety Center on his warrants, while his female accomplice was released after it was determined that she had not committed any crimes.

Agundez is a well-known shoplifter by the Turlock Police Department and other various agencies within the area. A majority of the things that Agundez steals end up online for sale, typically on the website OfferUp. Since April 2021, he has made 10 different sales on the website and currently has advertisements up for brand-new never-opened items on sale for prices significantly less than retail value.

Agundez managing to rack up 26 warrants is a perfect example of California’s politics causing a failing justice system. The cases Agundez’s warrants stem from go all the way back to January 2020, however, he has yet to be convicted and sentenced for his crimes and continues to be released on his own recognizance. At least this time Agundez has three no-bail warrants and his next court date is set for May, which will give him some time in jail.

Proposition 47 was passed by California voters in 2014 after it was strategically masked by the extremely misleading name, “The Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act.”

Prior to Prop 47, any person who entered a business with the intent to steal was committing second-degree burglary, a felony punishable by up to three years in state prison. Prop 47 made shoplifting its own crime, only punishable by up to six months in county jail, although even that is extremely rare.

Prop 47 also turned drug possession offenses into straight misdemeanors rather than wobblers and upped the grand theft threshold to $950 from $450.

Recently, Assembly Bill 335 was introduced by California Assembly Member Juan Alanis. Alanis is a recently retired Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Sergeant and represents California’s newly reorganized 22nd Assembly District, which includes Turlock, some other parts of Stanislaus County, and parts of Merced County. AB335 repeals Prop 47 in its entirety, with the exception of marijuana-related offenses.

AB335 will be heard by the California State Assembly Committee on Public Safety on Tuesday, March 7th, at 9:00 am. To show your support for it, you can submit a position letter to the committee by visiting https://calegislation.lc.ca.gov/Advocates/.