Crime Report: Woman threatened with arrest by caller for missing jury duty, demands money

La Cañada Flintridge

May 12

Burglary, residence: 4500 block of Alta Canyada Road. A man working as the managing contractor on a property reported that sometime between 5:30 p.m. the day before and 7:30 a.m. that day, someone entered the location and stole several appliances and work tools being kept in the garage and throughout the house, including a tankless water heater, wine cooler, two faucets and several saws and carpet tools. The contractor said he’d left the home locked and secured, leaving a key in a lock box outside to which he and his workers had the combination. The homeowners were on vacation and were due back that evening, but could not be reached. He told deputies he saw a pair of footprints on a wood floor that had not been left by his workers, as well as a Coors beer can left on the garage floor. There were no signs of forced entry.

May 13

Burglary, residence: 2000 Ahlin Drive. A man reported that sometime between 7:30 a.m. and noon that day, someone entered his unlocked residence and stole two laptop computers from the living room and kitchen. The point of entry and exit is thought to be either the front or rear door. Several rooms in the house had been ransacked. The victim did not know if other items may have been taken in the incident.

May 14

Burglary, residence: 3900 block of Robin Hill Road. A man left his house for work at around 9 a.m. after securing all the home’s doors and windows. When he returned at around 5:45 p.m., he noticed the front door appeared to have been pried open, and the interior ransacked. A ring and a necklace had been taken from the bedroom, while professional amplifiers and music equipment was missing from a closet. During the incident, the suspect(s) turned on several lights and ceiling fans inside the house. Fingerprints were ordered and neighbors interviewed. One woman said someone rang her doorbell sometime between 1 and 1:30 p.m. She saw a man with a hooded sweatshirt pulled over his head. He asked her if someone (an unknown name) was there and walked away when she said no. Right afterward, she saw a white sedan drive eastbound down the long driveway and out of view. Another neighbor reported also having seen a white sedan containing three or four males inside speeding eastbound from the cul-de-sac by her private driveway.

May 16

Theft by access card, petty theft: 985 Foothill Blvd. A woman dining at Sakura Japanese Steak and Seafood House at around 9 p.m. entered the women’s restroom and placed her cellphone case, containing her driver’s license, credit card and cash, on top of a trash bin inside the stall. She returned to her table without it. When she realized it was gone 20 minutes later, it was nowhere to be found in the restroom. She didn’t report it stolen, thinking an employee may have found it and would call her later. The next day, at around 4:30 p.m. the woman checked her Wells Fargo credit account online and saw someone had used personal information from her driver’s license and her credit information to buy gas and food at a restaurant costing an unspecified amount of money. The woman initiated a fraud investigation through the bank and canceled a personal check that was stolen along with her credit card.

May 17

Identity theft: 5000 block of Ocean View Drive. A woman reported that she’d been receiving credit report activity alerts related to her Discovery credit card’s identity theft protection service. The alerts said a MasterCard and JCPenney credit card had been opened in her name, and that both accounts had been used to purchase items. The victim also received a letter saying she was declined for a PayPal account she never tried to open.

May 18

Identity theft: 5000 block of Hill Street. A woman said sometime between May 11 and May 15, a man identifying himself as an employee from Sears Credit Services left a message on her answering machine, calling to confirm her Sears account. The woman said she’d had an account there but had closed it years earlier. She learned from a representative the account had been opened on May 1 and had been used to purchase a refrigerator. The person told her she’d have to file a police report to begin the fraud reporting process. In the process of learning how her information may have been taken, she realized her Social Security card was missing from her wallet.

La Crescenta

May 5

Grand theft: 2800 block of Highridge Road. A man told deputies he’d hired movers to move furniture and items to another home on Teasley Street. They arrived at the old house, wearing gray-colored shirts and loaded up the truck, working partially unsupervised from 9:37 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sometime that morning, the man left a black backpack carrying a Bank of America deposit bag containing currency and signed personal checks made out to a fundraiser, next to a pile of clothes in the hallway by the kitchen. At 2:25 p.m., he picked up the backpack and took it to his new residence. Later, at around 8 p.m., he noticed the deposit bag was no longer in his backpack. None of the victim’s family members had seen it. Deputies advised him to contact the payers and their banks to place a hold on the checks.

May 7

Attempted grand theft; 4600 block of Marellen Place. A woman reported that she’d received a call from a man with the title of lieutenant informing her that she had failed to report for jury duty and that a warrant had been issued for her arrest. The called told her she could avoid arrest by purchasing “Reloadit” cash cards and then calling him back to receive instructions. The victim purchased 10 cards, in unspecified amounts, from the grocery store and called the man back, who asked her to recite to him the PIN numbers on the cards. After providing the numbers, the woman became suspicious and went to the Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station to report the incident. She was advised to call the Reloadit company and cancel the transactions. While she was at the station, the suspect called her again and hung up when she told him she was at the sheriff’s station. When deputies tried to call the man, there was no answer.

May 8

Vandalism: 2300 block of Dorothy Street. A man left for vacation on April 30 at around 6:30 a.m., making sure before he left to make a needed repair to his wooden fence. When he returned home on May 7, he noticed someone had cut the piece of lumber he’d installed lengthwise. No witnesses could be found, but the man told deputies he has a long history of bad relations with a neighbor who he believes may have been responsible.

May 14

Grand theft, 3000 block of Altura Avenue. A woman reported that sometime between 8 a.m. on April 18 and 5 p.m. May 11, someone entered her home and took several pieces of jewelry, including 12 rings, from her bedroom. She said she believed the suspect may have been someone she knows, who was taking items intermittently throughout that time period, explaining several instances of odd behavior.

May 15

Burglary, residence: 3100 block of Pontiac Street. At around 7 p.m., a man left his garage door open with his 2002 Infiniti I35 inside. When his wife came home just after 10 p.m., she noticed the driver’s door of the car was ajar. The victim went to the vehicle and shut the door, noticing someone had stolen his wallet from inside the car’s center console.

Petty theft: 2900 Community Ave. A Crescenta Valley High School student told the school resource officer that someone stole her wallet from her backpack the day before. She’d placed her wallet inside the pack at the beginning of the school day. When she opened it up after fourth period to retrieve her wallet, she noticed it had been taken. No other student in the classroom reported seeing anything suspicious.

May 16

Vandalism: 5100 block of La Cañada Boulevard. A woman said she learned from her sister at 6:45 a.m. that someone had pried open her mailbox door and there was no mail inside; the last time the woman had seen the mailbox undamaged was around 5 p.m. the day before. Deputies observed a small padlock at the top of the door, as well as a bend in the door that had created a 3-inch gap.