Local News in Brief : Cat Burglaries Continue
A month ago Los Angeles police arrested a group of teen-agers for a rash of smash-and-grab thefts of Garfield the cat dolls from cars in the San Fernando Valley. Now police report some copy-cat thieves.
On Sunday a band of five shoplifting suspects, ages 10 to 13, were arrested in Panorama City after spending the day selling Garfield dolls in the parking lot at Panorama Mall, where the dolls were stolen.
“These kids didn’t take them out of cars,” Detective Robert Uber said. “They found a new method. They took them from a store that sells them.”
Then, on Monday, the window of a pickup truck in a San Fernando Municipal Court parking lot was smashed and the Garfield that was suction-cupped inside was stolen. The truck belongs to Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. Pamela Davis-Springer. No arrests were made.
“It’s some kind of fad,” said Lt. Rico Castro of the San Fernando police, which is investigating that theft.
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