Car Theft Renews Pleas for Commuter Station Guard

A car theft this week at Santa Clarita’s 3-month-old Metrolink station has renewed cries for increased security at the terminal, which has been repeatedly victimized by vandals since it opened.

But neither the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department nor the city is willing to station a full-time guard at the site, which also serves as a bus depot used by teen-agers who are suspected of causing the problem.

“The crimes are rather minor in nature, comparatively speaking, but at the same time they are very troublesome,” said Lt. Marv Dixon of the Sheriff’s Department, who added that deputies will continue periodic patrols at the site.

Five of Metrolink’s 12 stations have full-time unarmed guards, a Metrolink spokesman said Friday, while six others, including Santa Clarita, depend on local law enforcement agencies to patrol the area on a drive-by basis only. The city of El Monte sends local police to the terminals only when the trains are running.

Santa Clarita City Manager George Caravalho said security at the transit center is the responsibility of the contractor for the depot, not the city, until the city officially accepts the center from the contractor. The city will take possession of the site in about three weeks, a city engineer said.

In the meantime, Caravalho said the city is studying several security options, including video cameras and monitors, and full-time guards.

The station’s troubles stem from students “waiting for one bus after being dropped off by another,” Dixon said.

Most recently, a Valencia resident had his 1987 Chevrolet Blazer stolen between 6:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Tuesday while he worked in downtown Los Angeles.

“I really enjoyed taking” the Metrolink, said Matt Randall, who also lost $3,000 in camera equipment stored in the back of his vehicle. “Of course, now I have second thoughts. My car was safer in downtown L.A.”

Randall, who had been riding Metrolink about three times a week since it opened in October, joined others calling for full-time security at the station.

“The city is counting on this golden reputation of ‘Santa Clarita--Nothing Ever Happens Out Here,’ ” Randall said. “Well, that’s just not the case anymore.”

Law enforcement officials say many of the problems are caused by roving teen-agers of junior high school age, not by gangs or adult criminals.

“These are like middle-class white kids,” said Nancy Hemmert, co-owner of Steve’s Vending, which operates soda and snack machines at the station. “These are just bored kids who are cutting school and trashing property. Maybe mommy and daddy didn’t give them a $20 allowance so they’re getting it from our machines.”

Vandals have broken into their machines countless times, Hemmert said, but on only four occasions has the damage been serious enough that the break-ins were reported to the Sheriff’s Department. Now, steel cages protect the machines, with mixed results.

“It’s not a real safe station up there,” Hemmert said. “Something bad is going to happen up here soon, with the city dragging its feet about putting up a security guard.”