Crescenta Valley Crime: Attempted residential burglary on Vista Miguel Road

La Cañada

June 29

Petty theft: 4600 block of Ocean View Boulevard. A man said that between 9:30 and 10 p.m. the night before, someone entered his unlocked 2014 Toyota pickup and stole a bag full of baseball equipment. Also stolen from the vehicle was an iPad and a watch case.

July 2

Attempted burglary, residential; possession of stolen property; possession of burglary tools: 5200 block of Vista Miguel Road. Deputies received a call for assistance at 1:44 p.m. from deputies holding two suspects at gunpoint in a silver, four-door BMW.

The two male suspects, in their 20s, had been allegedly fleeing a home burglary and were apprehended by officers. Both were dressed in dark colors and one, who wore a delivery company shirt, identified himself as an employee there. When searched, were they were found in possession of black gloves, a retractable window punch, burglary tools and several other stolen electronic items and victim identification. A witness had been standing at her kitchen sink when she saw a man walk into her neighbor’s front yard and notified police. Another call regarding a suspicious person came from a woman who said a man dressed in delivery clothes came to her door to pick up a package, though she’d never scheduled a pickup. He eventually left, and the woman later positively identified one of the two apprehended suspects as the same man.

A deputy determined the two men worked as a team, with one acting as driver and lookout. The man on foot would knock on doors to see if residents were home. If someone answered, he made up a story justifying his presence. If no one was home, the two men would go around the back of a house and force entry. The deputy also stated burglary crews have actively been working in this area. The two suspects were arrested and booked into the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Crescenta Valley station. The driver said he was out on bail for weapons and drug charges, and was to appear in court in Van Nuys later that week.

July 3

Assault with a deadly weapon; vandalism: Green Lane at Angeles Crest Highway. Deputies responded to a call at 10 a.m. regarding two drivers engaged in a possible fight. When they got there, fellow deputies had detained one man and a minor. The latter, crying and visibly shaken, was identified as the victim, while a man in his late 50s, found angry and yelling, was identified by police as the suspect.

The victim said he’d been driving on north Oakwood Avenue in a Cadillac SRX when he came upon a 1931 blue Model A truck. It looked to him as though the truck was turning right, so the Cadillac driver passed it on the left. Minutes later, while he was turning left onto Angeles Crest Highway from Green Lane, the Model A came up from behind him and turned left in front of him, blocking his way. So he started a U-turn to leave the intersection. As he was turning his car, the other man got out of his truck, ran up to the vehicle and began yelling, “Why you running? Who you running from?” He then allegedly banged his fist, which bore a plastic and metal brace, several times on the Cadillac’s windshield, partially smashing it. The victim got out of his car and an argument ensued. The suspect claimed the minor had tried to kill him back on Oakwood, and grabbed and ripped the victim’s shirt.

Two nearby motorists witnessed the altercation and exited their cars to break up the fight. The suspect told deputies the driver of the Cadillac had almost hit him and then attempted to flee, and so he pursued him. The deputies determined his actions to be malicious, stating that his arm brace could have caused the victim great bodily injury. He was arrested and booked at the Crescenta Valley station.

Montrose

June 29

Possession of methamphetamine and marijuana; contributing to the delinquency of a minor: 2200 block of Del Mar Road. A deputy responded to a call of persons acting suspiciously in a vehicle, and saw a silver Chevy Sonic matching the description. As the deputy approached, he saw four people in the car. The driver, a man in his 20s, made furtive movements as if to conceal something behind his seat. A strong odor of alcohol emitted from the vehicle. All four occupants had glassy eyes and alcohol breath. A bottle of Maker’s Mark bourbon, a bag containing a leafy green substance and a bag containing an off-white crystalline substance were retrieved from the floorboard behind the driver’s seat.

The driver and two passengers said the bag wasn’t theirs, and that they’d only smoked and drank a little bit, but the fourth person told officers everything belonged to the driver. The driver was charged with possession of the substances, while minors in the car were released to the custody of their parents.

According to a June 15 police report, the same driver was arrested in connection with two shoplifting incidents at Sport Chalet, in which a juvenile male, in the company of two adult males, stole two hatchets in two days. The driver was found in possession of several stolen items believed to be connected to previous crimes and was arrested for reasonable cause burglary.

-- Compiled from crime reports from Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department by Sara Cardine.