Another AutoZone broken into near South L.A. street takeover, police say

An AutoZone in South Los Angeles was broken into early Saturday morning near a reported street takeover, police said.

The incident follows two similar break-ins earlier this week and last month at South L.A. AutoZones, in which crowds ransacked the stores during possible street takeovers nearby.

During the most recent incident, which occurred about 1:30 a.m. Saturday, police received calls stating that dozens of cars were in the intersection of Century Boulevard and Central Avenue doing burnouts while hundreds of people watched, said Jeff Lee, a
public information officer for the Los Angeles Police Department.

Around the same time, calls came in reporting people breaking into an AutoZone near the intersection. Callers said that at least some of the men were wearing ski masks, that they came from the street takeover crowd and that as many as 50 people were inside the store taking items, Lee said.

Lee said police responded to the blocked intersection and AutoZone incidents, causing crowds to flee.

There have been no arrests for the AutoZone burglary, Lee said, and he had no information on damage to the store or what was taken. Lee said there also were no reports of arrests during the street takeover.

He said detectives are investigating the burglary and will look at surveillance and social media video.