Crime Report: Business owner confronts would-be burglar inside store

La Cañada Flintridge

June 15

Burglary, business: 500 block of Foothill Boulevard. A man told deputies he was inside his business at around 6 a.m. when he heard a loud bang coming from outside the rear of the business. He exited and saw another back door open, but with the interior lights off. He entered the space and saw a man of medium build, about 6 feet tall and wearing a gray hat and hooded sweatshirt. The man (no other features were identified in the report) was holding a flashlight and began running from the front of the store toward the back door. He crashed into the informant, causing the man to fall, and ran westbound on Foothill Boulevard. The man said the suspect didn’t appear to be carrying anything. After being contacted, the victim said he was unable to find anything missing; a cash register had been opened, but cash is not kept there overnight. Several desk drawers had also been opened, but nothing appeared to have been taken. The victim said an active surveillance camera was pointed toward the back door at the time.

June 16

Petty theft: 1500 block of Foothill Boulevard. A man told deputies that sometime between noon and 12:45 p.m. that day, someone entered his unlocked 2015 Chevrolet work truck while it was parked at La Cañada Imports Pizza and Deli and stole an orange and gray Stihl leaf blower from the vehicle’s rear seat. Deputies were unable to find any signs of forced entry.

Burglary, vehicle: 1400 block of Descanso Drive. A woman reported leaving her locked 2015 Chevy Suburban in a parking lot at around 1 p.m. with her purse inside. When she returned to the vehicle at around 2:30 p.m., she was notified by an alert system that a theft attempt had occurred. She didn’t think much of the message at the time, but realized several hours later a credit card and jewelry bag, containing numerous rings and necklaces, were missing from her purse. At 8:36 p.m., the victim received a text message from Citibank notifying her of a charge made at an area Target store. She called and canceled the card. She told deputies the items of jewelry in the bag were very expensive.

June 17

Burglary, residential: 600 block of Georgian Road. A woman working as an in-home caretaker for a couple reported that sometime between 10 p.m. the night before and 7 a.m. that day, someone stole an Apple iPad, Bose alarm clock speaker, cash and a magnifying glass stand from her clients’ home. The woman secured the house before going to sleep and awoke to find smashed glass from a laundry room window. That was determined to be the point of entry and exit, deputies reported, as all other doors and windows remained secured.

Grand theft, vehicle: 1700 block of Earlmont Avenue. A man went grocery shopping after a shift of work at JPL, leaving a backpack, containing an Apple Mac Book Pro and several pieces of computer equipment along with a passport, in the front passenger seat of his 2004 Infiniti G35. He then drove home and unloaded the food, not realizing until he arrived at work the next day the backpack was missing. As some of the equipment stolen contained personal information, the victim was advised to contact all major credit reporting agencies.

June 18

Burglary, residential: 1800 block of Palm Terrace Court. A man reported that sometime between 6:20 p.m. the day before and 6:45 a.m. that day, someone shattered an office window in his mother’s house and stole a jewelry case and ring holder from the closet of the upstairs master bedroom. The man had gone to a friend’s house the evening before and came home at 1:30 a.m. It wasn’t until the next morning that he noticed the office had been ransacked and the window smashed. Deputies noticed an upstairs alarm PIN pad box had been ripped off the wall and a pillow on the floor of the master bedroom was missing its case. Two closets in the master bedroom had also been ransacked. All other doors and windows were locked.

June 20

Burglary, other structure: 4463 Oak Grove Drive. A teacher on the La Cañada High School campus at 6:45 a.m. reported that the door of the school’s “snack shack” had been shattered and several miscellaneous food items had been stolen from inside.

Burglary, residential: 5100 block of Castle Road. A man reported that sometime between 11 a.m. and 5:20 p.m., someone entered his mother’s house by smashing in a rear patio door and stole a pair of 1-carat diamond earrings from a bedroom dresser. An office and master bedroom had been ransacked during the incident. The rear door was determined to be the point of entry and exit.

Burglary, residential: 2200 block of Fairhurst Drive. A woman told deputies she’d left for work at around 9:30 a.m., after her husband had left for the day, and she had secured their home before leaving. When the husband returned home at around 6:30 p.m., he discovered the residence had been burglarized, and that a brown Louis Vuitton purse and a black Gucci purse along with an unspecified amount of cash had been stolen. A pane of glass in the kitchen door had been smashed in, providing the suspect(s) a point of entry and exit. All the items taken had been located in the closet of the master bedroom. Deputies reported the ransacking of the property was “severe” and, as such, more items may have been taken. The victims said they believed pieces of jewelry may have also been stolen.

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Sara Cardine, sara.cardine@latimes.com

Twitter: @SaraCardine