Crime Report: 2 Flintridge-area homes hit by burglars
Feb. 13
Theft by access card: 2300 block of Jayma Lane, La Crescenta. A woman reviewing her credit card transactions discovered nine fraudulent charges against her credit union Visa card that had been made between Jan. 30 and Feb. 12, all at Chevron stations in La Cañada Flintridge and Palm Desert. The last time she remembered seeing that credit card was on Dec. 29, when she’d visited a State Farm office in La Crescenta to pay an insurance bill.
Feb. 17
Vandalism: 2300 block of Del Mar Road, Montrose. Sometime between 10 p.m. Feb. 16 and 9 a.m. Feb. 17 someone slashed two tires, scratched windows and threw paint on a 2005 Toyota Tundra and also threw paint on an apartment front door and door mat. The victim, a woman, said she suspects her ex-boyfriend is behind the acts. She told deputies he’d visited her apartment several times recently and screamed at her. She said she’s also seen him hiding in the area, watching her movements.
Feb. 18
Burglary: 23400 block of Angeles Forest Highway in the Angeles National Forest: A man reported someone had vandalized his home by shattering six windows and kicking in three doors. His golf clubs were strewn around the yard. Inside there were a broken table and a broken mirror, but the victim said he didn’t think much could have been stolen because he does not keep a lot of personal property there.
Burglary: 4300 block of Woodleigh Lane, La Cañada. Deputies on Feb. 18 responded to a call about an open door and found the house ransacked. The owner said the house is vacant and that a neighbor has been keeping an eye on it. The neighbor said she had last been in the house on Feb. 14 and did not find anything amiss then. She recalled that on Feb. 13 she had turned off the alarm system because it had been triggered several times during periods of high winds. Video surveillance showed that at 6:16 p.m. on Feb. 15 two male adults were in the backyard of the property. At about 6:45 p.m. they can be seen exiting the home through its front door, one of them carrying a bag and the other carrying a safe. Deputies believe the suspects entered the home after shattering a rear glass door.
Theft by access card: 900 block of Monarch Drive, La Cañada. A man discovered his wallet was missing after he received a text at 6:30 a.m. from American Express notifying him someone had used his card to make two purchases at a Conoco 76 gas station. The last time he’d seen his wallet was when he purchased movie tickets in Arcadia at around 11 o’clock the night before.
Feb. 19
Petty theft: 900 block of Foothill Boulevard, La Cañada. A woman reported that someone stole her wallet out of her purse while she was shopping in a store between 11 am. and noon. The wallet contained her driver’s license, three debit cards, insurance cards and cash. The victim learned someone had tried unsuccessfully to use one of her debit cards at the Target and Ralphs locations in La Cañada.
Vandalism: 3000 block of Foothill Boulevard, La Crescenta. A man reported that sometime between 2:45 and 3 p.m. someone punched holes in all four of the tires on his 1997 Toyota 4Runner while it was parked in a lot near his workplace. A store’s closed circuit TV showed a male walking toward the vehicle, crouching down and making stabbing motions at the tires, then leaving the parking lot on foot and walking out of view. The victim said someone had punctured two of his vehicle’s tires two weeks earlier in the parking lot.
Feb. 21
Identity theft: 2400 block of Montrose Avenue, La Crescenta. A man applying for a home loan learned in the application process that there were two accounts on his credit report with past due balances. One had been opened in February 2009 and the other in August 2011. He said he did not open those accounts and does not know who did.
Feb. 22
Theft by access card: 3000 block of Santa Carlotta Street, La Crescenta. A woman reported discovering someone had fraudulently used her credit card to make multiple charges between Feb. 11 and Feb. 22.
Burglary: 200 block of St. Katherine Drive, La Cañada. A woman reported she and her son, who had left their home at about 5 p.m., returned at 10:20 p.m. to find it had been ransacked. While they could not immediately identify all that might have been stolen, they believe jewelry was taken. A glass door leading to the backyard was found shattered. It was believed the suspect(s) entered through the shattered door and exited through the front door, as the responding deputies found the latter unlocked.
Feb. 23
Petty theft: 1500 block of Foothill Boulevard, La Cañada. An employee at the 7-Eleven store reported that a man stole a California lottery ticket at around 1:30 a.m. Sunday. The employee said the suspect, a Latino, entered the store and asked if he could buy a lottery ticket (the amount of the purchase was redacted from the crime report). He said he had a winning ticket that would pay for it. The employee scanned the “winning” ticket and learned it was not a winner. The suspect left the store and got into a four-door sedan, leaving behind an invalid lottery ticket in place of the one he’d said he wanted to buy.
Compiled from reports on file at the Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station.