LOS ANGELES COUNTY : Robbers Find New Route Into Homes: Classified Ads
A crime wave involving thieves who masquerade as buyers of pricey home computers prompted police and the Recycler newspaper Monday to warn sellers against allowing strangers responding to classified ads into their homes.
It is the latest twist to the home invasion robbery. This time, the armed thieves responding to Recycler Classified ads have struck at least nine homes throughout Southern California, stealing high-end Macintosh computers and related equipment.
“The Macs are an excuse to get into the house,” said Detective Bill Speer of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Robbery-Homicide Division, which is investigating cases in Reseda, the South Bay, on the Westside and in other areas since December.
The latest case occurred Saturday, when two victims were shot and wounded before one of them shot back, apparently injuring the suspect. That attack came even though the victims knew of the past robberies, possibly because of a computer bulletin board that allows Mac users to communicate electronically, police said.
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