Crime Report: Family painting, prayer book, punching bag among items stolen from home

La Cañada Flintridge

March 4

Burglary, residence: 5100 block of Solliden Lane. A woman who is renting a house while her home is undergoing construction notified deputies that she left the property around 3:15 p.m the day before. When she returned to the site at 8:10 a.m. that day, she noticed a mountain bike and pull wagon had been taken from her unlocked garage. When the victim entered her home, she saw a sewing machine, a glass bowl and a prayer book had been taken from the family room, and that a back door near the kitchen had been left ajar. Other items missing included a family painting, a painting of the Santa Monica pier and a punching bag. No witnesses could be located, but a surveillance camera belonging to a neighbor was spotted pointing in the direction of the home.

Burglary, residence: 800 block of Lynnhaven Lane. A husband and wife returned home at around 10 p.m. and entered their home to find the upstairs master bedroom had been ransacked. The man told deputies he believed the intruder(s) smashed the glass of a second-story balcony door leading to the bedroom, and stole several $100 bills, a Rolex watch and several pieces of jewelry, including a diamond pendant necklace, a diamond wedding ring and a Chanel purse. The victim said a maid had cleaned the house prior to the burglary, but that the maid said the house was fine when she left it. A deputy noticed no ladders were left behind, but that an outdoor sink near the balcony could have been used to help access the upstairs. Fingerprints were ordered, but no witnesses could be located.

Identity theft: 800 block of Greenridge Drive. A woman told deputies she received a call from a Wells Fargo representative telling her someone had used her checking account online to transfer money by Western Union. She then said someone used her personal identification information to apply for credit cards at Target, Saks Fifth Avenue and Best Buy on Oct. 2. The victim was advised to contact the three major credit bureaus to have a fraud alert issued.

Fraudulent use of access card: 800 block of Chehalem Road. A woman visited her local Bank of America branch on Feb. 21 to apply for a credit card. Two days later, she received a telephone message from the bank stating she’d been approved for the line of credit, and that the card would be mailed to her. On Feb. 26, the woman left for vacation, and one day later, a bank representative called to inform her that several purchases had been made on her new card, though she had not personally made them. The victim never received the card or a statement of the transactions, and was advised by deputies to close the account and place a fraud alert notice on it.

March 5

Identity theft: 2000 Orchard Lane. A man told deputies someone had opened an online PayPal account using her name and personal information without his permission. The victim learned of the act after receiving a bill in the mail from PayPal on March 2 that he’d not opened until that day. When the victim called PayPal, a representative said that the company had already closed the account, determining it to have been fraudulently opened.

Identity theft: 5400 block of Burning Tree Drive. A woman contacted deputies after noticing an unauthorized charge had been made to her Chase Visa card. The victim called Chase to close the account and was told a purchase had been made and a package was delivered to Concord. She said she makes very few transactions to the card and is enrolled in online billing, so does not receive a paper statement. She was advised to put a fraud alert on the account.

March 6

Burglary, vehicle: 600 block of Foothill Boulevard. A woman reported that sometime between 6 and 8 p.m. that day, someone broke the driver’s side door lock to gain entry into her 2004 Chevy Tahoe while it was parked near the Rite-Aid pharmacy. A backpack containing various financial documents and personal information was missing. The woman drove home without noticing the crime had occurred, as she has a key-less entry system and failed to immediately see the backpack was missing. Deputies observed several fresh pry marks near the broken keyhole. No parking lot security cameras could be located.

Petty theft: 800 block of Milmada Drive. While conducting a patrol check at Gould Avenue and Venado Vista Drive at around 4:45 p.m., a deputy noticed an empty cardboard box in the middle of the street. When she went to pick it up, she noticed it contained packing material and that the label indicated it was scheduled for delivery that day to a Milmada Drive home. No one was at the Milmada residence, but the victim arrived in a matter of minutes. She said she’d left the house at 2:36 p.m. for a doctor’s appointment and had not signed for receipt of the package. A later trip to the scene where the box was found turned up no witnesses, but one surveillance camera pointed in the vicinity of the incident.

March 8

Vandalism: 3700 block of Normandy Drive. A woman had gone outside in front of her property at around 2 p.m. the day before to determine where cables might be laid if she ordered cable service. At the time, she noticed the cable to her security camera was fine. The next morning at around 10 a.m., the woman’s handyman told her someone had cut the camera cable, and that he’d found a pair of wire cutters at the base of a nearby lamp post. When the woman called her security camera company, she was told the cable would have to be replaced. The woman explained to deputies she’d been having trouble with a neighbor over work being done on her property, and that the neighbor had threatened to sue over the matter. She said she would figure out how to check the footage to see if the suspect had been caught by the camera before the incident.

March 9

Burglary, receiving stolen property; possession of burglary tools: Crown Avenue at Knight Way. Deputies responded to a call that people in a suspicious-looking sedan were peering into parked vehicles with a flashlight a little after 1 p.m. One deputy noticed a Nissan truck traveling south on Crown and turning west onto Knight that had expired registration dating back to August 2013, though there was a current sticker on the vehicle’s plate. He initiated a traffic stop, and saw four Malibu lights with soil still on them inside the vehicle as he approached. The officer said there was a magazine issued to a La Cañada homeowner in the bed of the truck, as well as several crowbars, screwdrivers, hammers and power drills. Inside, both the driver, a white male, and Latino male passenger were wearing orange reflective vests, similar to what road crew workers might wear. During a search of the vehicle and suspects, the deputy allegedly found a closed-end wrench that had been filed into the shape of a key, a common item associated with vehicle thefts, and a pair of wool gloves in the driver’s front pocket. Methamphetamine was allegedly found inside a first-aid kit. Inside the vehicle, deputies said they found four sets of key rings and a headlamp commonly used in vehicle burglaries. When asked what they were doing in the area when they live in Pacoima, the suspects said they were recycling. The driver said he uses the tools at work, and that the shaved wrench was a makeshift key for a motorcycle he owns. The suspects were booked on all charges, and the driver was additionally charged with possession of a controlled substance and false display of registration.

Burglary, residence: 800 block of Green Lane. A woman told deputies she’d left her home at around 9 a.m. that day and that it was locked and secured except for a few windows left open for ventilation. When she came home at 2:45 p.m., she found someone had removed the screen from an east-facing kitchen window. Once inside, the suspect stole a dark purple handbag, a commemorative tin containing U.S. and foreign bills and coins from the northwest bedroom of the home. A partial shoe print was found on the kitchen counter, indicating the window was the likely entry point. A rear door was determined to be the point of exit. The master and northwest bedrooms had both been ransacked, and the victim was uncertain if anything else had been taken. There were no surveillance cameras on the property and while no witnesses could be found, neighboring security cameras were identified. Fingerprints were ordered.

La Crescenta

March 4

Vandalism, vehicle: 4300 block of Ramsdell Avenue. A Crescenta Valley High School student parked his 2007 Jeep on the east curb of the street and went to school at around 9 a.m. When he returned at noon, he saw someone had etched the vehicle’s plastic window in two places with a light-colored marker, inscribing words about 2 inches high and 8 inches long. No witnesses could be located.

Petty theft, unlocked vehicle: 2200 Phyllis Street. A woman told deputies that sometime between 3:30 and 6:30 p.m. that day, someone entered her unlocked 2002 Honda Accord and stole several items from inside, ransacking the vehicle in the process. The victim reported that the suspect took a pair of sunglasses, about 20 miscellaneous CDs, a metal flashlight and her vehicle’s registration card. No witnesses could be located.

March 7

Misappropriation of found property: 3000 block of Foothill Boulevard. A man shopping at Office Depot at 10 a.m. set his Tag Heuer watch down on a display while he tried on a new watch. Afterward he left, forgetting his watch on the counter. When he called the store 25 minutes later, an employee was unable to locate the watch. The victim returned to the store but was unable to find it. An assistant manager told deputies no one had turned in the watch, and that the store manager would be available to check the store’s surveillance footage on Monday.