Glendale crime rises 13% in 2015, police statistics show
Glendale police keep a tight perimeter around a crime scene where one man was found dead in front of the Glendale courthouse and another man suffered serious wounds on Sept. 28, 2015. The second man later succumbed to his injuries. The men represent two of the six homicides recorded in Glendale for the year, up from zero in 2014.
The number of violent and property crimes reported in Glendale, when combined, jumped 13% last year, according to year-end crime statistics released by the Glendale Police Department.
Property crimes — which include burglary, theft and arson, as well as auto theft and burglary — jumped from 3,089 cases in 2014 to 3,512 last year.
Glendale police logged an increase in every category of property crimes except arson, which dropped from 16 incidents in 2014 to five last year.
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Thefts and burglaries from cars increased by 27%, as Glendale police logged 787 reports last year, up from 622 the year before.
Meanwhile, the number of violent crimes, which include homicide, robbery, rape and aggravated assault, increased by 4%, jumping from 188 incidents in 2014 to 196 last year.
The numbers increased in every category of violent crimes except aggravated assault, which dropped by 11%, from 110 incidents in 2014 to 98 last year.
Police logged 77 robberies last year, up from 68 the year before.
In perhaps the most striking increase, homicides jumped from zero in 2014 to six last year.
In one of those cases — the only one that remains unsolved — a 21-year-old woman was fatally shot in April at a Days Inn, where she had checked in three days earlier.
Housekeeping staff reportedly found her when they went in to clean the room.
Reports of identity theft spiked last year, rising to 669 cases from 544 the year before.
Impaired-driving arrests were also up, statistics show. Police arrested 675 motorists for driving under the influence last year, up from 629 the year before.
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Alene Tchekmedyian, alene.tchekmedyian@latimes.com
Twitter: @atchek
