Crime Report: Bold blond purse snatcher wearing cheetah print jacket rushes to use victim’s credit cards

Sept. 19

Forgery, identity theft: 200 block of Mero Lane. A man reported that on Aug. 28 he received a letter from the Internal Revenue Service notifying him of a levy placed on his tax return. He contacted the agency and was told by a representative that on July 25, 2000, someone had used his Social Security number, his name and his [forged] signature to open a company. He was further told that in 2006 the company had filed a tax return using his name and information. The IRS representative advised the victim to file a police report.

Sept. 21

Burglary (attached garage): 800 block of Valley Crest Street. A man reported that sometime between about 9 p.m. Sept. 20, when he fell asleep, having left his garage door open, and 6 a.m. on Sept. 21, when he stepped out of his home to retrieve his morning newspaper, someone had entered the open garage and stolen his TaylorMade and Callaway golf clubs, a golf bag and unknown quantity of golf balls; two Black & Decker corded drills and two portable tool boxes, both of which contained miscellaneous hand tools.

Sept. 22

Burglary: 300 block of Knight Way. A woman reported that at about 8:30 a.m. she locked her home and left for work. At about 11:45 a.m., she received a call from her daughters telling her that when they arrived home from school they discovered one of the panes on a rear glass door had been smashed. The woman immediately returned home. In a walk-through of the property with responding sheriff’s deputies, nothing was identified as missing. While the deputies were still there, a neighbor came by to advise them that, at about 11:30 a.m., while he was walking on Paulette Place toward its intersection with Knight Way, he had seen two males walking westbound on Knight. One was wearing blue pants and a blue hoodie pulled up over his head. The second was wearing black pants and a black hoodie, also covering his head. The witness said that when the suspects realized he’d spotted them, they ran to a blue Honda parked at the curb on Knight Way, got into it and took off westbound and out of view.

Sept. 23

Burglary, vehicle: 900 block Town Center Drive. A man reported that sometime between 5 a.m. and 9 a.m. someone smashed both passenger side windows, front and rear, of his 2002 Toyota Tacoma. The man could not immediately say whether or not anything had been stolen from inside the vehicle.

Burglary, unauthorized use of access cards: 900 block Town Center Drive. A woman reported that she entered a business at about 2 p.m. At 2:19 p.m. she began receiving multiple texts from her bank and fraud centers advising her of activity on her credit cards, including multiple charges attempted at the Vons in Montrose. At 2:35 p.m. she received an email from Wells Fargo saying her debit card had been used at the Ralphs in La Cañada. The victim looked into her bag to retrieve her purse, but the purse, containing credit cards, her Social Security card, her driver’s license and cash, was missing. She said she had pulled the purse out of the bag to pay for her meal at about 2 p.m. The investigating deputy visited the Montrose location where the victim’s cards had been used and spoke to a manager there who said that at about 2:20 p.m. that day a woman attempted multiple large transactions that had been declined. Video footage showed the blond suspect, sunglasses on her head, wearing a cheetah print jacket, blue jeans and sandals, approach a register. She had with her a dozen red roses and several gift cards. One of the credit cards she tried to use was approved and she used it to load $500 on four gift cards. Checking with the Ralphs store, the deputy learned that a woman matching the suspect’s description had entered the store at about 2:35 p.m. and attempted the same type of purchases there. When credit cards belonging to the victim were denied, the suspect was asked for identification. The ID she flashed matched the name on the credit cards, but the photo did not appear to match the suspect. When asked to pull the ID out (for closer inspection) the suspect told the clerk to forget the transaction and left the store.

Sept. 25

Grand theft: 3800 block Domal Lane. A construction supervisor reported that a member of his work crew had been working on cable lines at the location. At about 3:30 p.m. on Sept. 21, one of the employees left a 60-pound cable lasher attached to the cable line about 200 feet west of the street, with the intention for the work to be completed at a later date. The next morning, the employee returned to the site to find that the cable lasher and the vinyl rope that had been used to secure it to the cable line were gone.