Video captures broad daylight break-in at historic Sacramento diner Jim Denny's
SACRAMENTO – Beloved Sacramento hamburger joint Jim Denny's had its fourth break-in since September.
Owner N'Gina Guyton was out Tuesday morning cleaning up – something she's getting too used to doing.
"It is on brand, it's really on brand for what's going on right now in this city in the downtown area," Guyton said.
The handyman was also repairing the glass of the front door after a woman broke in.
Someone took a video of the whole thing around 8 a.m. In the video, a woman can be seen breaking through the front glass door, triggering the alarm.
Police officers on bikes were in the area responding to an unrelated incident when they rode past the woman, seemingly not realizing what was occurring.
Officers did eventually arrest the woman, but Guyton says the city isn't doing enough to prevent this sort of thing from happening.
"It's really on brand for what's going on downtown right now in this city, the downtown area," Guyton said. "It's ridiculously on brand."
Guyton says it shouldn't be this hard to keep an 85-year-old diner open -- but with break-in after break-in, she's not sure she can keep up with the costs.
"A lot of business owners are having to suffer the costs of having no protections whatsoever, and our margins are just too thin for this," she said.
Jim Denny's is arguably one of Sacramento's most notable restaurants, even making an appearance on the Travel Channel's "Man vs Food" show in 2010.
Despite its history, Jim Denny's previous owners decided to close the restaurant just before the pandemic. Guyton, formerly of the Sacramento soul food spot South, jumped at the opportunity to purchase the restaurant and reopened it in 2023.
Sacramento police confirmed to CBS13 that officers detained 35-year-old Chelsea Payne at the scene on Tuesday. She is being booked into Sacramento County Jail and is facing charges of felony vandalism, possession of a controlled substance, and possession of a dirk or dagger.
Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg attended a committee hearing Tuesday focusing on the top struggles of major downtown areas in California.
"Government at all levels does not do a very good job at outcome-based accountability," Steinberg said at the hearing. "We talk a lot about it and we mean well, but we haven't actually created the transparent tools that allow us to compare and contrast the performance among and between our cities and counties when it comes to actual success."
Guyton criticized the city, saying business owners receive a lot of pushback.
"Like 'Oh, we're trying our best. We're working so hard. So Busy. So many crimes. We can't get to you.' Yet, you were right here when it was happening," she said.
Jim Denny's stopped accepting cash as a way to combat the break-ins, but they are still happening.
"Do I want to financially be at my breaking point just to keep a little 85-year-old cafe open when the city should actually be doing their half of the job too?" Guyton said.
