The Region - News from May 12, 1987

Burglars ransacked offices in the headquarters of the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, stealing video recorders and three handguns. Police said the intruders apparently slipped into the two-story building at 5026 W. Jefferson Blvd. in South Los Angeles over the weekend, using a rock to smash a second-floor window at the back of the complex, then breaking into lockers to steal three handguns, a supply of ammunition and several video recorders. A silent alarm was triggered and police were immediately summoned, but the officers checked only the outside of the fenced building and found no evidence of a break-in, so the crime was not discovered for another hour. “It seems senseless,” SPCA Lt. Charles Reed said. “We doubt it was animal-haters, but in a thing like this, who knows?”