Folsom Burglar Who Crashed Into Van Has a Long History of Trouble

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by Lisa Kopochinski , October 30, 2015

Steven Russell Carson, Sacramento County booking photo, and 2010 Facebook image

A Career Burglar is Caught Once Again

A Modesto man was caught after a police chase in Folsom on Monday, October 26. He was arrested and booked into Sacramento County Jail.

Steven Russell Carson, 25, was arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of burglary, possession of stolen property, evading police, and auto theft, according to a Folsom Police Department news release.

Police received a call on Monday morning at approximately 8:00 a.m. about a break-in at two businesses on the 300 block of East Bidwell Street in Folsom.

An employee at Say Salon says the suspect broke into the salon and then knocked a large hole in the wall so he could get inside a neighboring skate shop. She immediately called 911 and when she returned to get Carson’s license plate number, the two made contact before he sped away.

Officers arrived to see Carson driving away westbound and pursued him. After three miles, Carson’s car collided with a minivan at Blue Ravine and Big Valley Roads.

A mother and small child were in the minivan. Police reported that the child was not hurt, but the mother sustained minor injuries when her airbag deployed. She was taken to a nearby hospital. Her vehicle had been totaled. Its front end was smashed in and she was sent into a 360-degree spin by the impact. The child involved in the crash was treated at the scene.

Carson also suffered minor injuries in the crash and was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment before being booked.

According to Sacramento County booking information, Carson also had outstanding felony warrants from the Modesto and Manteca police departments. His bail has been set at $220,000.

Carson had been arrested in Stanislaus County on November 20 of last year on charges of burglary, grand theft, possession of stolen property, and failure to appear in court. He had been arrested just three months prior, on August 5th for burglary and a probation violation. Earlier that year, while living in Manteca, he was arrested on outstanding warrants from both Alameda County and Sacramento County on various burglary charges, and for failing to report to a work release program.

Steven Carson in a 2014 Facebook photo.

He may have been busy with other things at the time – his name shows up as an arrestee in a Reno, Nevada prostitution sting conducted on March 19, 2014 in downtown Reno.

On January 2, 2014, he was arrested by Fremont police at the Carnalitos Restaurant and Bar on Washington Street. He was charged with three counts of burglary, grand theft, possession of burglary tools, being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, and carrying a loaded firearm in a vehicle.

He was charged with burglary in 2013 and 2012 as well, facing arrest or outstanding warrants at least seven times in that two-year period. In May of 2012 he was arrested in Valley Springs, in Calaveras County, in a burglary very similar to the incident in Folsom. Deputies had responded to an alarm at a local business called the Smoke Shop on Highway 12 at 2:52 am on Tuesday, May 15.

According to a 2012 press release from the Sheriff’s Department, the deputies found a broken glass door in a vacant unit next to the Smoke Shop. Inside, they saw a ceiling tile had been removed, and could hear noises coming from the Smoke Shop though the open ceiling. They surrounded the complex, and demanded the suspect surrender. More loud noises were followed by a man magically appearing inside the U.S. Post Office next door.

That man was none other than Steven Carson. He was taken into custody, and deputies soon found a hole in the wall between the Post Office and the Smoke Shop. Carson had climbed through the ceiling, dropped to the floor and tried to disable the alarm. His goal was to steal cigarettes, but when the law arrived, he panicked and thought he could escape by using a hammer to break through to the other side, climbing through to the interior of the Post Office.

The deputies also found Carson had been carrying a baggie of methamphetamine when he broke in, which he either lost or dropped while there. He was booked for burglary, vandalism, possession of a controlled substance, damaging power lines, obstructing an officer, and possession of burglary tools. He was at the time out on bail for other burglaries. He had been arrested for burglary a month earlier, and in January of that year as well. He was then also charged with committing a felony while on bail, from yet another burglary and resisting arrest charge in October of 2011.

MaryAnn DePietro and Ken Kiunke contributed to this story