By Julian Navarro
SACRAMENTO – Cigarettes can be a nasty and unhealthy habit—and, apparently, they can also land you in jail.
In a preliminary hearing here in Sacramento County Superior Court this week, Marques D. Watkins is alleged to have attempted grand theft of a box cigarettes, worth $1,140, from a delivery truck driver.
On Oct. 8, around 2:20 a.m. Sacramento Police Officer Brett Melloch said he was dispatched to the Quick Stop located at 3296 Marysville Blvd. in Sacramento where he understood a subject walked up the 
ramp of the truck trailer making a delivery, and grabbed a box of cigarettes.
When Officer Melloch arrived at the scene he was advised that the defendant was still in the back of the trailer. The officer said he could hear banging in the back of the trailer, and gave the “subject” orders to come out with his hands up.
During an investigation conducted by SPD Officer David Williams, the value of the cigarette box was found to be more than $1,000. The officer then detained and arrested Watkins for grand theft.
Officer Williams said in his testimony that Watkins apparently asked the driver to sell him menthol cigarettes, and the victim told the defendant, “I can’t sell them” because he was just a delivery driver.
The officer said that as the delivery driver was taking a dolly of product inside the store, he observed Watkins running up the ramp of the truck to the back of the truck. He saw him grab a case of cigarettes, so he closed the truck door by pulling down the door to the trailer, and locked the lever with Watkins inside.
The defendant also faces a separate case, where he was in the possession of a stolen vehicle as well as possession of controlled substances, which was heard right after the first case.
Judge Steven White stated there was sufficient evidence to believe that the defendant Watkins is guilty, so ordered him to stand trial.
Watkins pleaded not guilty to charges of grand theft. Trial is set for Jan. 19, 2021, at 8:45 a.m.
Julian Navarro is a senior at Sacramento State majoring in Criminal Justice. He is from Half Moon Bay, California.
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Not fully germane, but an irony… that the accused was attempting to steal ‘menthol cigarettes’. Which will soon be illegal for sale, as I understand it… we’ve decriminalized MJ possession and use… and are in the process of criminalizing menthol cigarettes… one of the arguments was legalizing MJ would reduce crime…
Irony…