Crime Report: Witness sees shoplifters running from store, follows their getaway car
July 8
Burglary and theft by credit card: 1900 bock of Foothill Boulevard, La Cañada. A man reported that someone rummaged through his gym bag, which he’d left secured in his locker between 5:45 and 7 p.m. Taken were his Samsung cellphone and a wallet containing three debit cards, one credit card and his driver’s license. One of his debit cards was used to make a purchase at a Bed Bath & Beyond in Studio City.
July 9
Vandalism: 2700 block of El Caminito, La Crescenta. A man who left his 2012 Honda Civic parked on La Crescenta Avenue just south of El Caminito overnight found its rear windshield shattered the next morning and a baseball that didn’t belong to him inside the car. Nothing appeared to have been stolen.
Grand theft: 4300 block of Bel Aire Drive, La Cañada. The catalytic converter was stolen off a 2005 Toyota Prius that had been left parked in the street overnight.
July 10
Burglary: 700 block of Inverness Drive, La Cañada. Sometime between 12:45 p.m. and 3:22 p.m. someone shattered a glass door and ransacked a home. A burglar alarm drew deputies to the scene; when the homeowner arrived afterward he could see that a checkbook was missing but could not immediately identify what else might have been stolen.
July 11
Grand theft: 1300 block of El Vago Street, La Cañada. A field engineer following up on a computer alert that some of his agency’s equipment was malfunctioning discovered 400 feet of copper wiring had been stolen from a storage box on a dirt path near the address. The box is surrounded by chain-link fencing and is kept secured by a lock.
July 12
Grand theft: 600 block of Foothill Boulevard, La Cañada. Three black males were seen taking six high-end handbags from a retail store. A witness driving past reported that the trio, all wearing dark hooded sweatshirts and gloves, then ran in front of her vehicle carrying their loot. They climbed into a waiting gray Mercedes C Class with paper plates that had been parked facing north on Oakwood Avenue. The getaway car then traveled up Oakwood to Houseman Street, across it to Gould Avenue and southbound on Gould to the westbound entrance of the Foothill (210) Freeway, according to the witness, who followed them to that point. She took photographs of their car along the way that she turned over to investigators.
Burglary: 500 block of Inverness Drive, La Cañada. A man reported that between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. someone shattered a double-pane window in his kitchen door to gain entrance, then ransacked every room of his home. Six proof sets of collectible silver U.S. coins were missing, and there may have been more items stolen as well, pending a more thorough inventory.
July 13
Graffiti: 5500 block of Godbey Drive, La Cañada. Sometime between 10 p.m. July 12 and 9 a.m. July 13, red and gold paint was used to spray the image of rocket ships on a golf course green and a nearby restroom.
July 15
Identity theft: 2600 block of Mary Street, La Crescenta. A woman reported that someone used her identity to fraudulently open a Discover credit card in her name.
Compiled from reports on file at the Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station.