Could better green belt management have helped with Eric Abril search in Rocklin?
ROCKLIN - An area where people walk, run and fish turned into a space for a suspected murderer to hide. Escaped inmate Eric Abril was found in a Rocklin green belt near Antelope Creek on Monday.
"It resulted in a criminal hiding in a spot because of poor management," said Luke Reite, who lives in Placer County. "You are not going to have these people flying around, spending 30 hours chasing some jack wagon, spending all our tax dollars, if they could see what was going on and everything was not so overgrown."
So could better vegetation management have helped with the manhunt? The answer: Not quite. The Rocklin Police Department said even if all the vegetation was clear, the creek bed still has cutbacks on the walls that someone could hide in.
"There are always the one-offs or the anomalies that happen, but overall, they are very safe," said Captain Scott Horrillo with the Rocklin Police Department.
Disc golfer Todd Mitchell said even amid the manhunt, he still felt very safe in the Rocklin green belts.
"For all of us, playing there was no concern," said Mitchell. "We were not worried about someone out here."
Officials from Rocklin and Roseville said cutting back brush with sheep and goats plus creating fire breaks is still a priority.
"It is supposed to be protected land and is nature," said Roseville Parks Superintendent Brian Castelluccio. "We do not want to litter it up with signage and things that would take away from it."
The recent manhunt does have some walking with just a little more caution while on these trails.
"It is sad raising a kid in the area. You want them to be safe," said Reite. "I definitely would not let Ally, my wife, out here to go for a run without my dog or me."
A recent survey showed that 86% of Roseville residents feel safe on the city's trails and open spaces. Over the years, Horillo said the trails have seen very little crime.
"There are some nuisance crimes maybe people drinking, people littering, maybe some transient camps there," said Horillo.
Police have cracked down on clearing homeless camps and keeping trash from contaminating the streams and soil. One of the challenges with managing the open land is that some of it is private.
"In the last couple months, the owner has spent $20,000 cleaning out garbage and debris that have been left by people having camps there," said Horillo.