Unregulated Fruit Vendors Snubbed

[CitaDeL]

Some may recall the thread on the old SOS forum that I had posted about the strawberry vendors in communities around where I live in far Northern California.

If you dont recall, there were a number of illegal aliens dropped off on street corners with flats of strawberries. They were there for hours, with no apparent relief, no access to restrooms. Almost all of them had no English skills beyond telling their customers how much. A couple of them were underaged girls.

Im not posting to tell you that they have been eliminated, but one of the street corners that they frequented now has a sign displayed.

I will again be photo documenting their activities for the County Department of Agriculture... More updates to follow.

[Commander Bunny]

At least it's a start.
I've done almost everything humanly possible to rid/report the strawberry slaves in Sonoma, when I lived there, the Cops won't do anything, and the only Folks that seemed to even be a little concerned ws the County Dept. of Agriculture.

But they close at 5pm, and I've noticed that the Vendors chose to start selling right about that time, so maybe something was done, a call made to the City(s), or something.

Now about signs...There's a 4-way intersection in Petaluma where the illegals gather daily, and there's about 2 dozen signs, in Spanish, English, and a few in Portugese, saying "no loitering, No alchohol, No drugs, all within 500' of 2 public schools, yet there's always illegals drinking, smoking weed, and loitering, even at 6am.

[Ayatollahgondola]

Excellent sign!

The vendors have showed up here again too. I've printed out copies of the flier from code enforcement, and I just staple them up where they were, or hand them one if I can stop

[Commander Bunny]

From My discoveries, such as following the "Head-slaver" back to His lair, I've found that a majority (at least for Nor. Ca.) of the strawberries are coming from sod farms that let the grounds furrough till the next batch of sod gets seeded.

[Rim05]

Thanks for the picture of the beautiful sign. A nice way to end the day.

[Ayatollahgondola]

Sacramento County Environmental Health Department has not let our efforts go by the wayside. As many of you may remember, I made numerous videos and photos of the illegal food vendors as they operated, and then sent them to the county. Another local cohort of mine began reporting them also. After some initial resistance, the EMD management starting doing sweeps based upon the info we provided, and some of their own sightings. They siezed carts and food in many instances. The illegal vendors didn't stop, but the county EMD sure made a big dent in them. Seems now they are taking it a step farther and issuing a new bulletin for the public warning of the dangers of eating from uninspected vendors. Click on the link below to read the flier:


http://www.pio.saccounty.net/coswcms/groups/public/@wcm/@pub/@pio/@inter/documents/pressrelease/sac_023977.pdf

[Commander Bunny]

Great work, both of You!!

I've since moved to an extremely rural part of the State, and unemployment/welfare is the name of the game up here, but I've noticed, and followed Americans doing the exact same thing.
I keep an eye on Their locations, days, hours, and such, and have followed Them to what Cerca once called "strawberry-Slavers", and these fruit Vendors will head-down to the Central Valley and buy from unrefridgerated trucks conveniently tucked-away down orchard rows, and the main suppliers of the fruit ( strawberries, cherries and such ) are from what I can tell disgruntled Farmworkers.
I played dumb, and asked for directions from one last time, and got nothing but a "que??"

Now, I've lived up here in the past and have dealt with the guys that sell meat/steaks from a semi-legit looking trucks, but last week a young Guy pulled down my long dirt road and asked the "wanna buy some steaks for 3 bucks a piece" line...sure I said, and went into My place and grabbed my laser thermometer, and took a reading of the UNPLUGGED household freezer in the back of his truck, and it was running in the 55F+ range, very dangerous, and these were cryo-vacced cuts of meat that all had been opened.

Very bad indeed.
But I played along with Them for a while, and found out exactly where the meat was coming from...Petaluma, of all places, and I knew the Owner of some of the tainted meat, so I gave Them a jingle, and found out that all of this was stolen recently.

I warned all of My neighbors, but in todays economy, alot of Folks can't pass-up a good deal, even if it might kill Them, or get Them gravely ill.

[Ayatollahgondola]

Great work, both of You!!

I've since moved to an extremely rural part of the State, and unemployment/welfare is the name of the game up here, but I've noticed, and followed Americans doing the exact same thing.
I keep an eye on Their locations, days, hours, and such, and have followed Them to what Cerca once called "strawberry-Slavers", and these fruit Vendors will head-down to the Central Valley and buy from unrefridgerated trucks conveniently tucked-away down orchard rows, and the main suppliers of the fruit ( strawberries, cherries and such ) are from what I can tell disgruntled Farmworkers.
I played dumb, and asked for directions from one last time, and got nothing but a "que??"

Now, I've lived up here in the past and have dealt with the guys that sell meat/steaks from a semi-legit looking trucks, but last week a young Guy pulled down my long dirt road and asked the "wanna buy some steaks for 3 bucks a piece" line...sure I said, and went into My place and grabbed my laser thermometer, and took a reading of the UNPLUGGED household freezer in the back of his truck, and it was running in the 55F+ range, very dangerous, and these were cryo-vacced cuts of meat that all had been opened.

Very bad indeed.
But I played along with Them for a while, and found out exactly where the meat was coming from...Petaluma, of all places, and I knew the Owner of some of the tainted meat, so I gave Them a jingle, and found out that all of this was stolen recently.

I warned all of My neighbors, but in todays economy, alot of Folks can't pass-up a good deal, even if it might kill Them, or get Them gravely ill.

Laser thermometer? Gawd your high-tech. but following the miscreants is old school low tech. Thanks for staying involved. These meckseecans are a bad influence on our fellow Americans

By the way; I think this was the video that helped turn the tide for me up here in getting the EMD to take action:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNXy0IPTwoA

[Commander Bunny]

What...?...no hand washing station??

Yeah, laser thermometers are pretty common, mechanics use them to tell when a cars thermostat opens, cooks use them to tell how hot/cold things are, and the good old Health Dept. uses them to check on fridge/saladbar, walk-in temps...kinda fun to have, actually.

[niteflyer]

This illegal vendor rabbited today when he realized the cops were coming. Lugonia at Nevada Ave in Redlands. The stand was confiscated.

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs052.snc4/34951_1491157155342_1126381876_1413663_2320467_n.j pg

This illegal set up in the front yard of a home at 1399 E. Colton Ave. in Redlands. Redlands PD just cites the illegals and lets them go. Most hide for a bit and come right back. This guy was hawking fruit and flowers.

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs038.snc4/34262_1481138664886_1126381876_1390793_5480874_n.j pg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs048.snc4/34758_1481139904917_1126381876_1390794_271162_n.jp g

This illegal vendor was finally run off from his stand at Lugonia and Tennessee in Redlands CA.

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs035.ash2/35097_1491382520976_1126381876_1414079_6720603_n.j pg

Last week San Bernardino Sheriff arrested the illegal vendor at W. San Bernardino Ave. and Citrus Plaza Dr. in Redlands when he failed to provide ID and didn't know his own name. The Sheriff confiscated the fruit stand.

We're not going to let the illegal vendors take over our streets or front yards anymore here, we've had enough. Please contact the local PD, sheriff and me if you see illegal stands in Redlands or nearby, I'd like to document the growing problem.

[Jeanfromfillmore]

Good job Niteflyer.

[Rim05]

That is how you get rid of all the Invaders, one by one, since the government does not want to do the removing of them.


Good work.

[Patriotic Army Mom]

I hit Hesperia area, turned them over to code enforcement. Now it's hard to find one of them.

[Ayatollahgondola]

Welcome and thanks for standing up in your area

Here's a link to my local forum:

http://www.fightbackinsac.com/forums/showthread.php?t=183

Look through there and see if there's anything that helps you

[niteflyer]

Thanks for the link and help. I'm going to be speaking to our city council about stepping up our code enforcement on the illegal street vendors. The USDA Ag office and county enforcement are also another route I need to pursue and where the produce is coming from in LA.

A quick spot check today and no vendors are out, just the bums/frauds panhandling on the off ramps

I've got a ton of video to get edited and I'll post it. Some of it is hilarious with customers blaming Bush for the poor condition of the illegals having to sell fruit on street corners.

[Commander Bunny]

Thanks for the link and help. I'm going to be speaking to our city council about stepping up our code enforcement on the illegal street vendors. The USDA Ag office and county enforcement are also another route I need to pursue and where the produce is coming from in LA.

A quick spot check today and no vendors are out, just the bums/frauds panhandling on the off ramps

I've got a ton of video to get edited and I'll post it. Some of it is hilarious with customers blaming Bush for the poor condition of the illegals having to sell fruit on street corners.I've found that working with Your county's AG Dept. has the best effect.
When I've dealt with the local PD about this when I was in the Bay area all I ever got was the "how do You know He's illegal" remark from the Cops, regardless of the fact that they were illegaly selling produce in Their city limits, and taking bussiness away from legit tax-paying stores that support Their Towns & Cities.

Good work Niteflyer!

[Commander Bunny]

Also, in regards to the AG Dept. They're pretty much a 9-5pm kinda job, and I've found that the illegals will set-up shop right around closing time, and sometimes inches out of city-limits as well.
The BEST thing to get is a pic of the vehicle's license plate, as I'm sure You've noticed, they're rarely to be seen around the vendors.
They have routes, They'll drop-off Sellers all over the place, and re-up Their supply of whatever They're selling, and of course, collect any cash.
These are the Ones the Dept. of AG are interested in.
Most Vendors have cellphones, and I've sat watching Them, and yacking on My radios, and They get nervous most of the time, and will call the main-Guy to pick Them up, if They think You're going to cause Them trouble...that's when you'll get the plate #..

[niteflyer]

So far no luck in getting the drop off trucks, I figured that would be the one vehicle to get on film but so far the vendors haven't been picked up or resupplied while I'm there. I tried spooking the first guy in the pics and he just rabbited so fast I lost him across a field. I'm guessing he met up with his supplier somewhere later.

Do they normally set up early in the AM? I seem to only see them in the afternoon to dark here. I check when I go to work at 7am and never see them then, prolly to early to get out here from LA.

[Ayatollahgondola]

I'm from a smaller area, and the produce distributors are in one spot. I sat out there in the AM and learned the players as they came and went. There's 20 or so wholesalers in one spot. The fruit is shipped from the farms to there, and the distributors sell it off to whomever is retailing.
All too aften, the fruit these roadside toads are vending is the older stuff. The strawberris may be a little different if that's all they are selling. It could be coming from one farm. Look at the boxes and see what they say

[niteflyer]

Illegal rose vendor University off ramp in Redlands this evening. Redlands PD cited and transported her, to where I don't know. Tied up 2 officers for this nonsense, it's the third time I've got this illegal on camera. :mad:

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs071.snc4/34920_1499621726951_1126381876_1438296_7846369_n.j pg