Crime Report: Surveillance footage shows suspect vandalizing security cameras at La Cañada High

Dec. 5

Identity theft: 4700 block of Lasheart Drive. A man told deputies he received four emails on Dec. 1 from the La Cañada Bank of America indicating suspicious activity on a credit card he’d shredded years ago, which had a zero balance.

The email stated three new bank cards had been distributed to him at his request. A representative later told the man a charge had been made on Dec. 2 at an Apple store in Los Angeles. Further investigation revealed a suspect had called Bank of America, claiming to be the victim, stating he’d lost his card and needed a replacement card in addition to three new ones.

The suspect asked for the cards to be sent to the victim’s home address via UPS. The victim told deputies he talked to his regular UPS driver, who said he was delivering a manilla envelope when he was approached by an Asian man who he thought was the victim. The man greeted the driver and accepted all the deliveries addressed to him. The suspect showed a California driver’s license with the victim’s name and information.

The driver described the man as in his late 40s, about 5 feet 9, driving a newer model black Mercedes S550. He drove south on Lasheart and out of view.

Dec. 7

Vandalism: 4463 Oak Grove Drive. Deputies reviewed surveillance video footage taken at La Cañada High School from a Nov. 27 incident that occurred between 3:14 and 11:54 p.m.

A suspect wearing a hooded sweatshirt, blue gloves and a mask was seen carrying a water bottle containing mud, possibly from a nearby softball field where footprints were found. In the video, the suspect attempts to squirt the bottle at a surveillance camera, but unable to reach it, throws handfuls of mud, still missing it.

Several minutes later, the same suspect is seen squirting mud at a camera by the school library. The suspect leaves campus on a red bicycle with silver lettering, returns two hours later with a handhold sprayer, as is used to spray plants or insects, and obscures the views of several other on-campus cameras.

Seven cameras were covered over several hours. Based on the suspect’s body type (not specified in the report), deputies believe the suspect’s actions were related to similar actions that occurred at the school before an incident of theft.

Grand theft: 2200 block of Foothill Boulevard. A man reported at around 2 p.m. he’d logged into his Bank of the West online banking website and saw six fraudulent checks had been cashed using his account number, though the checks had not come from his own checkbook. Bank representatives would not tell the victim where the checks had been cashed.

Dec. 8

Annoying electronic communication: 4600 block of Lasheart Drive. A man told deputies at around 5 a.m. he logged into his SBCGlobal email account and received an email he believed to be part of a scam (the email’s contents were redacted in the report). The victim said he did not fear for his or his family’s safety.

Theft by access card; burglary, vehicle: Foothill Boulevard at Littleton Place. A woman told deputies at around 9:30 a.m. she parked her 2010 Lexus RX 450h 500 feet east of the intersection of Foothill and Littleton on the northeast curb, locking all her doors before she left. When she returned at around noon, she saw her back-seat passenger’s side window had been smashed and several items taken from inside.

Among the stolen items were a Billabong purse, a green and blue owl wallet containing several bank, credit and store cards, currency, a checkbook and a California doctor’s license in the victim’s name.

After the incident, the woman logged into her Bank of America account and saw three unauthorized transactions had been made at a Los Angeles Target.

Dec. 10

Burglary, residence: 1000 block of Ridgecliff Lane. A man reported that three possibly male suspects smashed and entered his upstairs bathroom window at about 7:45 p.m. and ransacked his master bedroom and a walk-in closet, though he did not notice anything missing.

Deputies observed broken glass in a bathtub under the window and a dresser and nightstands whose drawers were opened, in addition to several items strewn about. In the backyard, a dented and dirtied barbecue grill appeared to have been used to gain access to the upstairs window.

Video surveillance belonging to the victim showed a dark sedan pulling up to his house at 7:30 p.m. Three people wearing light-colored hooded sweatshirts exited the vehicle and circled the residence while a fourth person remained in the vehicle. The three suspects then climbed over a gate and out of view.

Compiled by Sara Cardine.