Crime Report: 4 home burglaries reported between Dec. 16 and Dec. 20
Dec. 16
Burglary: 2600 block of Mayfield Avenue, Montrose. A man who said he left his home locked and secured at 8:25 a.m. returned at 6:30 p.m. to find the front and side doors open, the Christmas lights on and rooms ransacked. There was no sign of forced entry, but it was surmised by the resident and by a responding deputy that an intruder could have reached through a dog access panel to open the side door. A fresh footprint was found in mud on the side of the home and there were two fresh wheel tracks across the front lawn. Although a full inventory of missing items was not yet taken, it was immediately apparent that two electric guitars, a banjo, a shaving kit and a stack of packages containing Christmas gifts were gone.
Burglary: 3800 block of Hampstead Road, La Cañada. A woman reported that when she returned home at 10 p.m. she was driving eastbound on her street when she noticed a dark-colored vehicle parked in her driveway. She first drove past the house to check out the strange vehicle, then decided to turn around pull into her driveway and park next to it. When she parked, she felt and heard a “thud,” but couldn’t identify its source. The other vehicle then sped off out of her driveway and traveled westbound on Hampstead. Thinking it was a neighbor who had perhaps used her driveway temporarily, she entered her home through the garage, disarming the house alarm system on the way in. She noticed a rug was positioned in an unusual way in front of one of the bedrooms and walked toward that room to determine why. That’s when she discovered that bedroom and several others had been ransacked, so she called 911. The responding deputy noted the rear glass door in the master bedroom had been shattered. Outdoors, a side gate was found ajar and nearby was a large safe belonging to the residents. It had scrapes and dents as if someone had tried to pry it open. A hammer had been left at the scene that did not belong to the victims. The woman said that while the house has an alarm system, it does not cover the rooms that were burglarized. Immediately identified as missing, pending a more thorough inventory, were an 18-karat gold necklace with a diamond pendant and a pair of 18-karat gold earrings with diamond drops. A neighbor said that at 9:15 p.m. she heard loud noises outdoors that sounded like pieces of metal clanging against each other. She called 911 but couldn’t offer any further details.
Dec. 18
Burglary: 200 block of Baptiste Way, La Cañada. At around 10 p.m. on Dec. 17 a woman called the sheriff’s station to report that she’d heard items being broken and kitchen cabinets being open and shut at her home. But responding deputies found no evidence of a burglary so did not file a report. The next morning the woman found a double-pane glass window broken and its screen out of place. According to the crime report, it looked like a punch tool had been used on the window, but it appeared no one had climbed through the window or entered the house at any other location.
Dec. 19
Grand theft from unlocked vehicle: 2400 block of Florencita Avenue, Montrose. Sometime between 8 p.m. Dec. 18 and 10 a.m. Dec. 19 someone stole a remote control key fob, a Garman GPS 6-inch display, a breathalyzer, a disabled placard and a first aid kit from a 2014 Jeep Cherokee whose owner thought he’d locked when he parked it in his driveway. But because he left the spare remote control in the Cherokee’s center console, a feature on it intended to prevent a driver from accidentally locking keys in the vehicle prevented the door locks from engaging.
Theft by access card, petty theft: 400 block of Foothill Boulevard, La Cañada. A woman reported that her wallet was stolen from her purse while she did some grocery shopping at about 12:30 p.m. She learned afterward the three credit cards she kept in the wallet had been used to unsuccessfully attempt purchases at various locations.
Strong-arm robbery: 2100 block of Foothill Boulevard, La Cañada. A woman who has just sat down in the driver’s seat of her car after placing her son in a rear car seat heard the passenger door open and saw a Latino in his 20s, wearing a gray hoodie, reaching across the seat to pull her Louis Vuitton shoulder bag off of her shoulder. She tried to hold onto the purse’s strap but the man wrested it from her, then dashed to a waiting white four-door Honda that was parked behind the victim’s car. She tried to give chase on foot, but fell. A passerby tried to follow the Honda and saw it drive southbound on Ocean View Boulevard.
Dec. 20
Vandalism: 4400 block of La Crescenta Avenue, La Crescenta. Sometime between noon and 3 p.m. someone scratched the passenger side of a 2016 Toyota 4Runner that had been left parked at the curb.
Burglary: 4000 block of Chevy Chase Drive, La Cañada: A woman reported that she left her house secured at 7 p.m., but when she returned at 9 p.m. she found several lights on inside, an upstairs window that leads to the roof shattered and numerous drawers throughout the house open. She could not immediately say what might have been stolen.
Dec. 22
Vandalism: 200 block of Foothill Boulevard, La Cañada. A man reported someone scratched the front and rear passenger doors of a four-door rental car he’d left parked in a lot while he attended a church service between 7:15 and 8:30 a.m.
Compiled from reports on file at the Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station.