Ticket Gives Teen Suspect in Theft Spree Ride to Jail

A 16-year-old boy who allegedly made off with more than $150,000 in merchandise during a 3 1/2-month, 30-home burglary spree in Rancho Palos Verdes was captured by sheriff’s deputies because he failed to dispose of a $28 parking ticket, authorities said Tuesday.

The youth, whose name was not released because of his age, is suspected of stealing goods ranging from comic books and socks to wrapped Christmas presents and luxury cars.

He was arrested Monday night near his San Pedro home as he was about to drive off in a $27,000 Cadillac that was stolen earlier this month, said Sgt. Gary Smith, head of a special Sheriff’s Department burglary team that tracked down the youth.

Abandoned Vehicle

Smith said deputies went to the area looking for the Cadillac because another car, stolen earlier in the burglary spree, had been ticketed nearby. Authorities discovered the unpaid ticket on the front seat of the other car after the thief abandoned it in Lomita.

The teen-ager could have avoided police, at least for a while longer, “if he had done anything with the ticket, paid it or thrown it away,” Deputy Marty Weirich said.

The youth, who attends Narbonne High School, lives in a neighborhood less than a mile from the homes that were robbed, authorities said. He is being held at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downey.

Deputies said residential burglaries in affluent Rancho Palos Verdes have been on the rise since early November, when a thief began breaking into homes through back windows and barricading the front doors with furniture, so he would be alerted if homeowners returned unexpectedly.

Household Items

The burglar’s mainstays were standard household items, such as televisions, stereos and guns, but authorities said he also stole three cars, including the Cadillac, and more esoteric items: a $300 comic book collection, 100 silver dollars and a home security system, still in the box.

The burglary team began to suspect a single burglar was responsible because of the distinctive style of the crimes and because of descriptions provided by several neighbors of homes that were struck.

As Christmas approached, the burglar hit with increasing frequency, sheriff’s crime analyst Elizabeth Rodriguez said.

“He started taking pajamas and socks and things like that,” Rodriguez said. “That’s when we thought, ‘He’s out there doing his Christmas shopping.’ ”

The burglar also began to steal wrapped Christmas gifts, sometimes pausing to open them inside the homes.

On Dec. 23, the burglar found keys for a Toyota Cressida inside one of the houses and drove off with the car and other loot, Smith said. The car was found abandoned 10 days later in Lomita, and it provided the crucial clue: the unpaid citation, which had been issued while the car was parked in front of a fire hydrant on Mt. Shasta Drive in San Pedro.

Clue Pays Off

The clue paid off Friday when another Rancho Palos Verdes family returned home from vacation and discovered that its car had been stolen.

“We went back to the neighborhood where the first car (once) had been parked,” Smith said, “and lo and behold, there was our stolen Cadillac.”

Smith and his deputies began a stakeout of the Cadillac on Monday afternoon, expecting they might have to wait days for the burglar to return. But at 6:15 p.m., after just three hours, the 16-year-old jumped in the front seat and prepared to drive off, Smith said.

Deputies arrested him before he could.