The perils of buying from door-to-door solicitors brought to this area to peddle everything from t-bones to magazine subscriptions was borne out again in Moraga last week.
Moraga police responded to a report of a truck selling meat door to door in the area of Corliss and Woodside drives the afternoon of Feb. 28. Neighbors, possibly on edge from a series of out of character criminal episodes in the area, called officers to report their suspicions when one of the salesman showed up on their doorsteps and, as it was discovered, those suspicions were proved right.
Officers conducting a computer check of the salesman’s background discovered Zachary Scott Simons, 28, of San Jose was on felony probation for possession of narcotics and identity theft. Further search uncovered a bindle of suspected black tar heroin – which was quickly confiscated as Simons was taken into custody for the probation violation and for possessing a controlled substance.
He was booked into the Martinez Detention Facility. Investigators said Simons was a passenger, co-worker, in a vehicle from Prime Selection, a meat company in San Jose. The driver took control of the truck and its product and was allowed to leave the area.
When I saw the small, well-marked truck, it was parked for a good while in front one of the 2 vets on Country Club Dr. I was mostly hoping the prime meats were not local.
I know that no direct correlation has been established but I firmly believe that these sales teams and solicitors are behind or at least involved with the recent round of burglaries and other crimes we have been seeing.
I still don’t understand this whole buying meat out of a truck thing. It sounds so sketchy. Like this meat probably hasn’t been properly refrigerated. I just see maggots and food borne illnesses when I think about it.
When you throw in black tar heroin, the whole thing is just mind boggling.
And, what is black tar heroin? Heroin mixed with asphalt or something? It’s like these people who smoke marijuana that smells like cat urine. Why you wanna smell like cat pee? Strange. I will never understand people.
We are solicited regularly. More often than not I get the feeling the sales person is more interested in what is in our house than in selling us magazines or solar panels. I have to think these people are sharing information on the homes they visit and whether they have alarms or if people are likely to be home. After several uncomfortable front door discussions we no longer open our door to them and since they ignore the sign we have posted we do call police if they linger.