![\"Denzen](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1789200688_572_4f53342e-fc23-4ba1-a0d2-46ded186be89_1755712926.file.png\")
<\/a>SACRAMENTO, Calif. \u2014<\/p>\nThe Sacramento County Sheriff\u2019s Office says deputies had probable cause to arrest Rohit Rohit for allegedly violating a restraining order weeks before authorities say he killed Shalini Thakur,<\/a> but investigators were unable to find him.<\/p>\n Sheriff\u2019s Office spokesperson Lt. Amar Gandhi defended the department\u2019s response during an interview with KCRA 3, saying deputies and detectives made at least two attempts to contact Rohit after Thakur reported the suspected violation on July 29.<\/p>\n Thakur had obtained a civil harassment restraining order against Rohit in May. Gandhi said deputies and detectives had encouraged her to seek the order after she began reporting conduct that concerned investigators.<\/p>\n The May 29 order required Rohit to stay away from Thakur, her home and her workplace. It also included instructions for law enforcement stating that an officer must arrest the restrained person if the officer has probable cause to believe that person knew about the order and disobeyed it.<\/p>\n According to Gandhi, Thakur called the Sheriff\u2019s Office on July 29 after receiving grocery deliveries she believed Rohit had ordered or delivered.<\/p>\n \u201cShe called in, reported it. So deputies actually went out there,\u201d Gandhi said. \u201cThey took a report. There was follow-up done after that from our detectives.\u201d<\/p>\n Gandhi said investigators believed Rohit was responsible and determined that he was \u201cPC arrestable,\u201d meaning they had probable cause to take him into custody.<\/p>\n \u201cWas there probable cause that this was from Rohit?\u201d KCRA 3\u2019s Denzen Cortez asked.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, correct. So that\u2019s what we believe,\u201d Gandhi responded.<\/p>\n Gandhi said detectives made at least two in-person attempts to locate Rohit at his home and other locations he was known to frequent. Those attempts were unsuccessful.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we made contact with him, yeah, I am certain there would have been an arrest,\u201d Gandhi said. \u201cBut again, there was no contact made.\u201d<\/p>\n Gandhi said investigators could arrest Rohit for the suspected misdemeanor violation even though it had not occurred in their presence. He said the investigation remained pending as detectives handled other cases and continued their follow-up.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s not going to be a massive, large-scale manhunt for this person,\u201d Gandhi said. \u201cBut there is follow-up. There is stuff done.\u201d<\/p>\n The Sheriff’s Office described the reported violation as a lower-level misdemeanor within the criminal justice system. Gandhi said Rohit had no known criminal history and that this appeared to be his first suspected restraining-order violation.<\/p>\n The Sheriff\u2019s Office did not classify the matter as domestic violence because investigators had no information showing Thakur and Rohit had been involved romantically. Gandhi said Thakur had described them as friends, placing the matter under civil harassment.<\/p>\n However, Gandhi said that classification did not prevent deputies from arresting Rohit for allegedly violating the order.<\/p>\n What could have happened if Rohit had been arrested?<\/p>\n Gandhi said Rohit could have been cited or booked into jail if investigators had located him. An arrest alone would not have established guilt or guaranteed that he remained in custody.<\/p>\n Under California Penal Code section 273.6, an intentional and knowing violation of a qualifying restraining order is generally a misdemeanor. A conviction can carry a fine of up to $1,000, up to one year in county jail or both.<\/p>\n Prosecutors would have needed to prove that the order was valid, Rohit knew about it, he was capable of complying with it and he intentionally violated it. Following an arrest, prosecutors would have decided whether to file charges, while a judge could have determined whether Rohit remained in custody and what release conditions applied.<\/p>\n It is not possible to determine whether an arrest following the July report would have prevented Thakur\u2019s killing.<\/p>\n When asked whether the Sheriff\u2019s Office could have done more, Gandhi said no.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just the sad truth of it all. These cases, they come in every day,\u201d Gandhi said. \u201cThese detectives do have stacks of these cases, and they do follow up on these cases literally every day.\u201d<\/p>\n Gandhi maintained that investigators devoted significant attention to Thakur\u2019s reports and repeatedly encouraged her to obtain the restraining order.<\/p>\n \u201cTo say that nothing was done is absolutely incorrect,\u201d Gandhi said.<\/p>\n Gandhi said Rohit alone was responsible for Thakur\u2019s killing, while acknowledging the limitations of what he called an \u201cimperfect justice system.\u201d<\/p>\n See more coverage of top California stories here<\/a> | Download our app<\/a> | Subscribe to our morning newsletter<\/a> | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sacramento deputies had probable cause to arrest Panera gunman weeks before deadly shooting Sacramento sheriff\u2019s officials say investigators…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":461460,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[8186,237,11293,12145,6873,5171,4749,2871,83141,3816,2726,5679,2971,3290,346,9355,98139,181552,181921,8877,181922,14351,180862,121,357,6771,123,122,2729,181359,2637,135,1519,8836],"class_list":["post-461459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-amar-gandhi","tag-arrest","tag-denzen-cortez","tag-deputies","tag-detective","tag-dhs","tag-domestic-violence","tag-ice","tag-illegal","tag-investigator","tag-jim-cooper","tag-july","tag-nbc","tag-newsom","tag-office","tag-order","tag-other-case","tag-panera","tag-probable-cause-week","tag-restraining-order","tag-restraining-order-week","tag-rohit","tag-rohit-rohit","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-county","tag-sacramento-deputy","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news","tag-sacramento-sheriff","tag-shalini-thakur","tag-sheriff","tag-shooting","tag-trump","tag-violation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=461459"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461459\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/461460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=461459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=461459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=461459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}