Willow Glen Resident
News
Photograph by Vicki Thompson
Victoria Mendez sells hot dogs and tamales to Josiah Chandler. San Jose police said street vendors are often vulnerable to muggings and robberies, and officers are urging them to report any crimes against them.
Ice cream vendors provide sweet target for robbers on the prowl
By Stephen Baxter
The jingling bell of an ice cream cart on a hot summer day can send children running toward it for some sweet relief--and it can perk up the ears of criminals.
At least two pushcart ice cream vendors were robbed in San Jose in July, and police fear similar crimes have gone unreported because of the victims' immigration status. San Jose police arrested four men this month in connection with the thefts, and a police spokesman said they want vendors to report crimes regardless of whether they are in the country legally.
"They should absolutely come forward without any fears about immigration--that's been the stance of our chief," said SJPD Sgt. Nick Muyo.
Ice cream vendors have been targets throughout San Jose, especially at the end of hot days in recent years, because they often work alone in parks and carry large amounts of cash.
At about 3 p.m. on July 5, near the corner of Waverly and Nassau streets in East San Jose, two youths flashed a knife at an ice cream vendor and took his money, police said. Two men were later apprehended. At 7 p.m. the same day, a vendor on Blossom Hill Road was making a sale when four men allegedly punched him and knocked him to the ground. The thieves relieved the vendor of his cash and left the vendor scraped and bleeding, police said. In the Rose Garden neighborhood, one vendor said a customer recently tried to run off with his money.
"With a lot of these thugs and cowards, it's five guys robbing one guy," Muyo said.
Jose Ramirez, 21, has been pushing a wheeled ice cream cart for about three months. He said on a typical hot day he sells $70 in frozen treats like Rich's Ice Cream's Cookies 'n Cream Avalanche, which comes in a cup with a wooden spoon.
Ramirez was ringing the cart's bell recently when he stopped to make change for a boy who looked about 10 years old.
"Then he tried to take my money, and I chased him off," Ramirez said in Spanish.
The job is usually not dangerous, he said. Most of his job involves making children happy.
San Jose businessman Sebastian Arvizu, has owned Mexicana Ice Cream for more than a decade.
Though his 10 vendors can often take in $200 a day, he has more than 20 competitors in neighborhoods throughout the city. A number of vendors now ring their bells along the borders of Willow Glen..
"I've been lucky this year," Arvizu said. On some streets, vendors have dealt with wild and drug-addled people, he said. He noted that in downtown San Jose thieves have threatened vendors with knives and guns. In previous summers, it happened almost weekly.
"Usually we report it, and [police] take a description of the people who did it," Arvizu said. "I want the police to know what's going on in the city. We're never going to end it with this situation."
Some vendors have learned to avoid muggings.
At Golden State Ice Cream manager Nick Nikbakht said some vendors put large bills in a safe place earlier in the day to prevent theft. They also learn to avoid some parks, especially around dusk.
"They should be vigilant when the see a problem," Nikbakht said. "Any business when you're dealing with cash, whether it's a catering truck or a pushcart, they have to be concerned."
