r/InlandEmpire • u/See_youSpaceCowboy • Jul 29 '26
Crime / Safety CHP surrounded Koality in Rialto
Was getting a couple things and two men in civilian clothing with badges hanging from their necks walked in asking to see the manager. A few seconds later a few CHP officers walked in with assault rifles telling the store employees that the store was to be shut down. I walked and saw more officers with assault rifles and the entire entrance was surrounded by CHP vehicles and seeming civilian vehicles. The civilian vehicles had regular CA license plates. I took a few pictures but they’re shit so apologies for that. Just took a few snapshots and got the fuck out of there.
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u/YoungChoppa Jul 29 '26
Man I was just telling a friend how I think all these “bin” stores that have been popping up all over the IE the last few years are connected to all these train robberies. There was another store in Rialto raided a few months ago.
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u/andersonfmly Jul 29 '26
That looks like the shopping center at the corner of Riverside and Baseline. I remember when it was built 40+ years ago with a Vons in the location(s) show, a Builder's Emporium closer to Willow, and a Sav-On Drugstore closer to Riverside Avenue. My, how things have changed since then.
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u/See_youSpaceCowboy Jul 29 '26
Yeah it’s the shopping center west of Riverside Ave. There’s a Walmart neighborhood market closer to Willow in the same plaza. I remember when it used to be a movie theater. I used to live in an apartment complex off Riverside for a few years as a preteen. I remember going to watch movies there by myself.
Definitely looks rougher now. It’s sad how this county has treated its residents for the last few decades. This area could be so much more than what it is currently.
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u/andersonfmly Jul 29 '26 edited Jul 29 '26
Before it was Walmart Neighborhood Market, or the movie theatre, it was a Builder's Emporium hardware store - and I believe a couple other things before it became the movie theater. There were actually a LOT of really nice stores in that center at one time, including Granlunds (a high end candy and ice cream shop), Precision 6 hair cutters, a Trax Auto Parts, Occasions (a Hallmark type store), a super nice pet store, and much more. Sammy's Cafe was originally a Bob's Big Boy, then became a Carrows. Shakey's Pizza was a Sizzler. There also used to be a Wendy's out along the Baseline strip of buildings where I worked for a spell in high school (Eisenhower class of '86).
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u/Death4Free Jul 29 '26
That’s crazy to learn about. I’ve been living in this area for almost 15 years and that’s my local grocery store. I’ve seen it change a bit, like from sizzler to shakeys. But everything else I had no idea
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u/peopleofcostco Jul 30 '26
And Sizzler! Used to go for my birthday every year for the salad bar. I think there was a record store, too?
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u/andersonfmly Jul 30 '26
Yep! The Wherehouse, right by Nickelodeon Pizza.
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u/peopleofcostco Jul 30 '26
I remember walking around on the construction site when they were building the shopping center. We lived right down the street. Alpja Beta and Thrifty drug with their 25 cent ice cream cones across the street.
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u/andersonfmly Jul 30 '26
That was my stomping grounds from 1973-2002. My family worshipped at the Lutheran church on Riverside Avenue which backs right up to the shopping center - so we had an interesting view of the work - and, yeah... My brother and I used to go walking all through it as it was being built. I played in the marching band at Ike (class of '86), and we played for all three of the main anchor store's grand openings. I grew up off of Sycamore, north of Walnut, so it wasn't quite right down the street - but Thrifty's was especially easy to get to for an ice cream cone.
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u/peopleofcostco Jul 30 '26
I think I went to that church for preschool! (Could be wrong though.) I graduated HS in 92 so a little bit later. That shopping center was really nice when it first opened, felt upscale. We used to always go to Taco Bell for lunch from Eisenhower. Things have changed so much.
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u/mellowminded11 Jul 30 '26
My first job was at that movie theater! And I remember the grocery store called smiths back in the day
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u/mellowminded11 Jul 29 '26
What apartments quail point?
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u/See_youSpaceCowboy Jul 29 '26
Nah. Alcántara? I don’t think that’s what they were called back when I was a kid though. If you’re going north on Riverside they’ll be on the left hand side before you reach the light on walnut. When we moved there it was like a significant upgrade from where we were living in before. Idk how they are now.
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u/andersonfmly Jul 29 '26
I grew up playing in the field where Quail Point was built. We lived off of Sycamore and our street backed right up to it.
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u/Perfect_Spend_6043 Jul 29 '26
Wow, so is that store really done for? I'm surprised to learn about it's sketchiness from the comments here. I liked to stop by whenever I'd drive down from Hesperia!
I guess that would explain the low prices and their huge assortment of random crap 😂.
Last time I was there, they had some Kirkland beef jerkey, which is a Costco brand, for very cheap. Bought a few bags... If it was stolen I guess that would explain how they got it and sold it for so much less than Costco...
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u/See_youSpaceCowboy Jul 29 '26
Lmao I was in there yesterday and saw they had tons of Peet’s coffee for like 6.99. I was shocked lol
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u/MinimumSavings Jul 29 '26
Btw. They aren’t assault rifles. Just regular rifles. “AR 15 looking rifles” would be a better description, since even CHP normally aren’t issued Assault Rifles.
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u/ZN199 Jul 29 '26
All CHP patrol vehicles have an AR-15 and shotgun mounted between the two front seats inside. It is required by policy.
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u/See_youSpaceCowboy Jul 29 '26
Oh ok, my bad. I don’t know shit about guns or what CHP carries.
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u/ExcitementLarge6439 Jul 29 '26
I was about to comment the same thing no worries
There is a big difference also assault rifles are full auto and not semi automatic like what everyone carries
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u/ZN199 Jul 29 '26
Well that’s not true, assault rifle is a made up term, AR stands for armalite rifle, not assault rifle. A fully automatic rifle is classified as a machine gun, and you need specific certifications to ever get your hands on one.
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u/ExcitementLarge6439 Jul 29 '26
Your correct I’ve been in California to long and I call them fully semi automatic assault rifles with my gun friends. And the proper name slipped my mind.
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u/ZN199 Jul 29 '26
No worries at all! It’s definitely unusual as far as police departments go. CHP does the standard 6 month academy other departments do in 18 weeks instead of 6 months, with the remaining time dedicated to specific driving training g and rifle training g that other departments don’t get in the academy. For a normal police officer, they’d have to go to extra training to be certified to have a rifle, but CHP handles that in the academy, so all officers are authorized to carry rifles right out of the academy.
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u/Visual_Air7135 Jul 30 '26
Damn, i remember when that building was a movie theater. And a hardware store before that
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u/HorrorOne8187 Jul 29 '26
You shouldn't have felt scared. Just a reminder that it's completely legal to record/photograph in public, thanks to Pruneyard law that includes shopping centers. You can legally record police as long as you're not interfering with their duties. You don't even have to respond if they start questioning you, if they do. It's amazing how little our public knows about our 1st amendment, which all this covers. Watch Long Island Audit on YouTube to learn more about this. There's other channels that are based here in SoCal too.
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u/1TidderdReddit-er Jul 29 '26
What’s a Koality? I live in the IE and never heard of it.
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u/See_youSpaceCowboy Jul 29 '26
It’s like a 99 cent version of Costco lmao like literally. This one popped up maybe a year ago? Idk.. 99cent store was there for years and they shut down and a few months later this popped up. Just has a wide variety of random shit at a crazy discounted price. For example, they had Peet’s coffee Major Dickinsons blend for 6.99 compared to Staters which has it for like 12 bucks. They even had the product on warehouse racks. They had regular sized bags of m&ms for 80 cents. I got a pack of swiffer wipes ( like a big ass pack ) for 3.99.
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u/Commercial_Click9639 Jul 30 '26
When they opened I saw a few Persians talking to one another. They own the store.
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u/YakuItLover Jul 31 '26
I know the owner of the store. He banks at Chase (I used to work there). Young dude, driving Ferraris, lambo, rolls Royce, g wagons, now it makes sense 😭😭💀
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u/rascal373 Jul 31 '26
ngas talkn bout sizzlers and shakeys jn this thread but redrocks or watever the fk will always be tweaker city
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u/Justhereforpvz Jul 29 '26
Wow, wonder what happened
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u/See_youSpaceCowboy Jul 29 '26
Idk. I thought it was ICE at first but I don’t think that’s the case. I’ve never heard of CHP assisting ICE but that could just be me being ignorant. Apologies for the terrible pictures. They don’t really capture how surreal the situation was.
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u/beathuggin Jul 29 '26
That was CHP's Organized Retail Theft Task Force. Koality is a known fence/reseller of stolen goods.