Sheriff’s officials deem six burglaries in one day ‘random’ occurrence, not a trend

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department officials are calling a spate of break-ins and one attempt that occurred at three businesses and three homes within a 24-hour period last week “random” and not part of an upward burglary trend in La Cañada.

The incidents are thought to have taken place on or around Jan. 19, the same day Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station Capt. Bill Song delivered an encouraging year-end crime report to members of the La Cañada Flintridge City Council.

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Song told council members residential burglaries in December were significantly down from the same month a year before, in which 21 incidents were reported, and that the number of nonresidential burglaries in 2015 decreased 33% from 2014.

In a recent interview, the captain assured residents the sheriff’s department is working diligently to prevent crime spikes, which tend to trend up and down throughout the year.

“Other than this one day, the city of La Cañada Flintridge has been experiencing a very low crime rate and there is really no reason for the community to be alarmed,” Song said, adding that Part I crimes, which include burglary, assault and larceny, for the month of January are so far 9% lower than the same month last year.

Detectives investigating the most recent incidents believe the three businesses broken into either the night of Monday, Jan. 18 or early the next day — Min’s Kitchen, AIA Insurance Agents and See’s Candy — may have been hit by the same suspect, or a crew of suspects.

The residential burglaries, which occurred on Angeles Crest Highway, Milmada Drive and Burning Tree Drive, are being looked into as isolated events, according to Detective Lt. Randy Tuinstra of the Crescenta Valley station.

Tuinstra said that a .357 Magnum revolver was stolen from a desk drawer inside the insurance company by suspects who smashed open a bathroom window in the rear of the business and ransacked the interior, damaging the space in the process. Next door, a security gate in the back of Min’s Kitchen was disturbed but apparently strong enough to keep the intruders at bay.

“It couldn’t be compromised so they just gave up,” Tuinstra said, adding that all three commercial break-ins were discovered and reported at or shortly after 9 a.m. on Tuesday.

The See’s Candy burglary was unique, in that no point of entry or exit could be determined, Tuinstra said. A cash register drawer was pried open but nothing was stolen, as the register insert had been placed in the safe before closing time the night before. An employee told deputies an electrical device on the safe had been pulled and a panel leading to an upstairs attic area was out of place.

On the afternoon of Jan. 19 at around 3:45 p.m, a residential burglary was reported occurring on the 4900 block of Angeles Crest Highway. In that crime, a wheeled safe containing passports and other documents was stolen. A kitchen window at the rear of the house had been shattered to allow access to the property, according to Tuinstra.

“[The victim] came home and saw her garage door was rolled up halfway, and the door connecting the garage to the house was open,” the lieutenant reported.

Later that day at 7 p.m, a home on the 900 block of Milmada Drive was burglarized, but the suspect(s) left shortly after an alarm was triggered. According to the homeowner, nothing was taken during that incident, Tuinstra said.

At about the same time that evening, a third homeowner called to report a residence on the 5500 block of Burning Tree Drive had also been entered through a smashed rear window. In that case, the home was ransacked, and a pair of earrings and a necklace were reported missing, Tuinstra said.

Despite the coincidence of the six burglaries in that 24-hour period, which account for nearly all burglaries committed this month, investigators assert they were random and not a sign of worsening crime in La Cañada.

“(Residential) burglaries are down, aside from those three that happened in one day,” Tuinstra said. “It’s a random thing — it’s uncommon, but these things happen.”

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Sara Cardine, sara.cardine@latimes.com

Twitter: @SaraCardine