La Cañada Crime: Woman’s Jaguar, Land Rover and Mercedes all ransacked

La Cañada

May 6

Theft from unlocked vehicle: 5000 block of Louise Drive. Sometime between 8 p.m. Monday and 7 a.m. Tuesday, someone entered a man’s unlocked Audi and stole his checkbook from the center console. The victim was unable to recall the account number, but called the bank and canceled the account before contacting police.

May 7

Theft from unlocked vehicles: 4800 block of Fairlawn Drive. A woman came out of her house at 8 a.m. and noticed her Jaguar, Land Rover and Mercedes had all been ransacked. While money had been taken from the Jaguar and Land Rover, nothing appeared missing from her husband’s Mercedes. All three vehicles had been unlocked, but no nearby surveillance cameras had captured any relevant activity.

May 8

Grand theft: 600 block of Foothill Boulevard. A man reported his iPad was stolen at a restaurant while he was having dinner with a Little League team and coaches on the patio sometime around 9:45 p.m. on May 6. He left the device on an outdoor table and went inside to pay the bill. When he returned, he talked to other coaches without noticing the iPad, and left without it. He returned five minutes later to find it was gone. Several servers and bus boys were asked if they’d seen it but replied no, so the victim left his phone number with the manager in case someone later turned it in.

May 9

Theft from unlocked vehicle: 600 block of Inverness Drive. A woman parked her Volvo station wagon at the end of a very long driveway around 7:45 p.m. on Wednesday, leaving it unlocked and with her purse inside. Less than four hours later, she got a call from Pasadena Police Department saying the purse was in their possession. She picked up the purse the next morning, but did not ask police where it had been found, and noticed her license and several debit and credit cards were missing, in addition to cash and a pair of sunglasses.

May 10

Theft from unlocked vehicle: 2500 block of Foothill Boulevard. A woman parked near a business at around 6:30 p.m., leaving her car unlocked. She returned 20 minutes later to find several items missing, including a purse containing a phone, currency and a debit card. Officers observed no signs of forced entry, and no witnesses could be located.

May 11

Utility service theft: 4800 block of Grand Avenue. A woman contacted police to report that someone appeared to be living in her vacated residence. She’d moved months earlier after it was deemed uninhabitable, and had shut off all utilities, but when she drove by on Sunday, she saw several lights on. An officer knocked on the door, which was answered by another woman, who said she’d been renting the unit for four months and had no idea it had been deemed uninhabitable and that she’d have to relocate. Later, police noticed the electric meter had been rigged with a jumper cable to bypass the meter. Southern California Edison was notified and photos of the device were taken.

La Crescenta

May 9

Burglary: 3000 block of Encinal Avenue. A woman parked and secured her Hyundai Elantra across the street from her home at around 2 p.m. on May 8, and returned at 8:50 a.m. the next morning to find the front passenger window smashed. The glove box and center console were opened, but nothing had been taken. The victim’s father, who was at the residence, said he heard people walking on the street around midnight but heard nothing suspicious. No other witnesses could be located.

Editor’s Note: Dates refer to when a police report was filed, not the date of the alleged incident.

-- Compiled by Sara Cardine.