Crime Report: Witness reports spotting used-kitchen-grease thieves
La Cañada Flintridge
March 24
Petty theft, used kitchen grease: 1000 block of Foothill Boulevard. A witness describing himself as a “corporate investigator” told deputies that at around 1:11 a.m. that day he saw a white Ford van parked in front of the dumpster gates outside a business and heard a sound he could identify as the pumping of used kitchen oil from a nearby inedible-kitchen-grease container.
The man then saw two Latina females get into the van and speed away. The witness said he and his partner had been assigned to surveil the location for used-kitchen-oil suspects and had set up three cameras to catch the thieves in the act.
NEWSLETTER: Stay up to date with what’s going on in the 818 >>
Burglary, vehicle: 1300 block of El Vago Street. A man reported that on March 21 at around 7 p.m. he parked his locked Toyota Prius on Journeys End Drive before leaving for a trip. When he returned two days later at 11 a.m., he noticed both driver’s side doors and the rear trunk were ajar. The car’s interior had been ransacked, and the victim’s Quilter guitar amplifier, Mackie mixer and Electro Voice speaker cabinet had been taken from the trunk area.
Mail theft: 1000 block of Oxford Way. A woman heard her dogs barking at 2 a.m. that day. At around 7 a.m., when she went out to get the previous day’s mail, she noticed her mailbox door was open and there was no mail inside.
March 25
Burglary, residence: 800 block of Lynnhaven Lane. A man reported that sometime between 7:50 and 8:50 p.m., someone smashed a window in his master bedroom and ransacked a dresser.
He was on his way home when he received a call from his wife, who’d left the home an hour earlier and just gotten a call from their alarm company indicating the alarm had been triggered.
When he reached the house, the alarm was still sounding but the suspect was gone. The victim told deputies he could not yet tell if anything had been taken.
Burglary, residence: 5300 block of La Cañada Boulevard. A man told deputies that sometime between 7:26 p.m. and 8:32 p.m., someone entered his home and stole a loaded .45-caliber semiautomatic handgun while he and his wife were out to dinner.
When they came home, the man went upstairs and noticed his bedroom has been ransacked. There, the suspect had taken the gun but left behind its plastic hard case.
The point of entry and exit was determined to be glass doors in the second-story master bedroom. Deputies observed that the suspect had placed a metal bar stool underneath the outside balcony and climbed onto the second floor, smashing the glass doors to gain entrance.
In addition to ransacking the bedroom, the suspect(s) had used an attic ladder to enter the attic, where several open suitcases were observed. A storage closet in the home’s garage had also been ransacked.
March 27
Petty theft, unlocked vehicle: 1200 block of Olive Lane. A woman reported that sometime between 1 a.m. and 1 p.m. that day, someone entered her unlocked 1997 Chevrolet Suburban, stealing a bag filled with miscellaneous articles of clothing and toiletries.
When she returned to the vehicle, she noticed the front driver’s side door was ajar and the interior had been ransacked. She told deputies the stolen bag contained expensive female clothing and personal items.
March 28
Theft by false pretenses: 4400 block of Briggs Avenue. A man reported that someone had made an unauthorized withdrawal from his account with Authorize.Net Gateway online payment service account, starting on May 4 of last year and continuing every month since. A representative with the company advised the man to file a sheriff’s report to reverse the charges.
--
Sara Cardine, sara.cardine@latimes.com
Twitter: @SaraCardine
--
ALSO:
Sen. Liu introduces bill that aims to buoy the rights of the homeless
Schiff seeks funds for early warning system for earthquakes
Former treasurer, mayor Don Voss named La Cañadan of the Year
