Crime Report: Police find trio of burglary suspects in possession of safe

Oct. 11

Identity theft: 4900 block of Hampton Road. A man reported receiving a notice from Citibank about an incomplete credit application he hadn’t filed. He called the bank’s fraud department and was told his name and date of birth had been used to try to open an account.

Identity theft: 4900 block of Hillard Avenue. A woman told deputies her personal information was used in an attempt to open credit card accounts at 11 different stores. Three applications were denied, but the other approved accounts were opened, and two Macy’s cards contained charges dating from Sept. 15 to 21. The woman said she’d lost her wallet in the Gelson’s parking lot in June. Two days later, a man came to her home saying he’d found the wallet, and she’d written a personal check to thank him for returning it.

Burglary, vehicle: 5000 block of Godbey Drive. A woman said sometime between 10:45 a.m. and 12:05 p.m. that day, someone smashed out the front passenger side window of her locked vehicle and stole her purse, containing a pair of diamond stud earrings and a pair of Kate Spade sunglasses in a case, from under the front passenger seat.

Burglary, vehicle: 1700 block of Foothill Boulevard. A woman reported sometime between 7:40 a.m. and 12:50 p.m. that day, someone smashed open the window of her car and ransacked its interior without stealing anything. The car had been parked in the covered parking lot of a medical office.

Burglary, residence: 5700 block of Summit Crest Drive. Deputies responded to a front-door alarm call made at at 1:42 p.m. A resident there said she got a similar notification and returned home to discover her front door and a living room sliding door were open. As she walked through the house, she noticed several more open doors and cabinet drawers, though nothing appeared to have been disturbed or stolen. Deputies observed pry marks on the sliding door, the likely point of entry.

Petty theft, shoplifting: 600 block of Foothill Boulevard. A store manager told deputies at 4:20 p.m. the day before two females, one black and one Latina, entered the store with a reusable shopping bag. Five minutes later they left with items in the bag without paying. Video surveillance showed them removing at least one item from a shelf. The following day, the store’s loss prevention officer said he recognized one suspect as a customer who’d come into the store three weeks ago with a black male who was about 30 years old. The loss prevention officer said just that day, the same man was seen returning several items and using his personal information to make the return.

Oct. 12

Burglary, residence: 4400 block of Oakwood Avenue. A man said he returned home with his wife at 12:50 p.m. and pulled into his driveway when he saw a Latino male in his 30s, about 5 feet 8 and of medium build, in his backyard. The man ran away from the property, heading northbound on Oakwood Avenue with a second Latino male of similar stature wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt. When the man entered his home, he saw a window screen had been removed. A gate on the south side of the house was left open. Other than the removed screen, deputies believe no other entry was made into the location.

Oct. 13

Burglary, residence: 4800 block of Del Monte Road. A man checking on the status of his elderly mother’s home said he drove by around 7:30 p.m. and noticed the front door was open. Deputies observed the doors of the oven in the kitchen were open, as was a closet door by the front door.

A black tool chest in a bedroom had open drawers and had been rifled through, though nothing appeared to have been taken. A northeast bedroom was ransacked and a projector was missing from its closet. A coin collection was thought to have been taken from the same room. A jewelry cabinet in a nearby bedroom was completely emptied, and approximately 75 gold and gemstone rings were missing from inside. Deputies found a patio chair underneath a broken bedroom window they believe was used to gain access to the property.

Oct. 14

Burglary, residence: 4700 block of Gould Avenue. A man left his home at 6:30 p.m. to run errands. When he returned at 9:30 p.m., he noticed his home had been burglarized. A master bedroom sliding glass door was shattered and the room completely ransacked. Five designer purses and a digital camera, in addition to a pair of rings, wedding ring and a pearl necklace were stolen from the closet. The entire house had been ransacked and the door to an attic crawl space was opened, leading deputies to believe the suspect was searching for a safe. The victim said other items may have been taken as well.

Oct. 16

Burglary, probably cause; possession of burglary tools: 3400 block South Central Avenue, Los Angeles. Los Angeles Police Department officers contacted the Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station to report that three Latino males had been detained at around 8:50 p.m. that day and found in possession of numerous documents and a serialized safe thought to be related to a residential burglary that had occurred the same evening in La Cañada (no report for that burglary had been submitted at press time.) Jewelry and U.S. currency found on the suspects was booked into evidence and all three men were arrested.

Compiled by Sara Cardine