By Sara Beth Williams–
Six more juveniles were trespassed from the Sunrise Mall property for one year after police caught the teens breaking into the vacant Macy’s Men’s building Thursday afternoon.
Citrus Heights Police responded to reports of six teens seen breaking into the former Macy’s Men’s building on the north side of Sunrise Mall just before 1 p.m. Thursday afternoon.
Sgt. David Jones with the Citrus Heights Police Department said Thursday that all six teens were cooperative, and were detained without incident for 9o minutes until their guardians arrived to pick them up. The teens were not identified due to their age, but ranged in age from 13 to 17.
Jones said police officers issued trespass notices directly to each teen’s parent, and that the teens are barred from returning to the mall for 12 months.
Jones acknowledged that in his experience, teens who have too much extra time tend to get into mischief, and that he has seen an uptick in juveniles and others engaging in breaking into vacant buildings due to online social media challenges. He also says he sees an increase during holidays when school is not in session.
Jones wants parents to know that if their children continue to break into vacant buildings in the city, they can be held liable for contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Earlier, overnight on Wednesday, three young adults and four juveniles were also trespassed from Sunrise Mall after they were caught attempting to break into the vacant Elephant Bar building.
Because the national restaurant chain has been out of business for so long, some users on Tik Tok have been videotaping exploring abandoned Elephant Bar buildings, police said Wednesday.
The TikTok videos police warned about focus on “urban exploration.” One specific video without caption text shows images from the vantage point of the roof and inside the vacant restaurant located on Sunrise Boulevard, posted in mid-October.
