By Joe Goldeen
The Record
STOCKTON, Calif. — A 23-year-old man picked the wrong Stockton house to break into Monday morning.
Jamal Davis, who told authorities he was living under a downtown freeway bridge, allegedly chose one of the busiest firehouses in the city to burglarize. After he was discovered inside Station 2 shortly after 4 a.m., firefighters chased him outside and secured his location for police, who responded quickly.
Officers arrested Davis on suspicion of multiple charges, including burglary, robbery, vandalism, possession of stolen property and resisting arrest.
Davis allegedly entered Station 2, also known as the Central Firehouse, by breaking a window of a garage door on the far west side of the building at 110 W. Sonora St. and climbing inside. Once he gained access to the garage bay used for storage most of the year, he made his way to an office where he took a laptop computer and an iPad. He also took the liner to a firefighter’s jacket — known as a turnout — which he was still wearing when he was arrested, according to police and firefighters.
Davis was caught inside the firehouse by a firefighter who arrived at work early. During the confrontation, Davis allegedly threatened to kill the firefighter if he attempted to stop him, stating he had a gun, according to a Fire Department report.
Davis then dropped the electronics and fled out the same window he had used to gain access, authorities reported. When he was arrested, he was not found with a gun and no gun was found on the premises.
The Stockton Fire Department is one of the busiest per capita in the nation, often responding to more than 100 calls every day. Station 2, the city’s largest and home to several specialized divisions including the Urban Search and Rescue Team, responds to an average of 25 calls every 24 hours, according to Battalion Chief Lane Healy.
Healy said the break-in occurred between emergencies just after fire crews returned from a call.
“The presumption that we’ll be asleep at 4 a.m. is wrong,” Healy said.
The large property just south of downtown is used by the department for training and numerous other functions. It is bordered on two sides by Mormon Slough, home to dozens of homeless camps and used as a regular trail by transients.
Over the years, safety measures around the property have been beefed up to include taller and improved security fencing and video surveillance.
“We’re subject to regular break-ins to the property through the fence line. We’ve had quite a bit — thousands of dollars’ worth — of tools and equipment stolen,” Healy said. “But we’ve never had an intruder that’s broken into the living quarters of the firehouse.”
Healy said the items Davis was allegedly attempting to steal belonged to both the city and firefighters. He said the personnel who work at Station 2 are well-aware of the large number of transients and homeless who stay in the surrounding neighborhood.
“We have a lot of empathy for the people around here,” he said.
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