Crime Report: Teacher’s car burglarized at La Cañada High School

July 28

Burglary, vehicle: La Cañada High School east parking lot, 4463 Oak Grove Drive. A teacher reported that sometime between 9 a.m. and noon someone smashed the passenger window of her Toyota Prius and took a North Face backpack that she’d left on the front passenger’s seat.

The backpack contained a MacBook Air computer, two USB drives and a wallet holding miscellaneous gift cards, two expired bank cards, one active bank card, a Costco card and cash.

A responding deputy viewed surveillance video that showed the teacher parking her car, exiting it and walking toward the school, immediately after which a suspect pulled his Nissan Frontier up next to the teacher’s car. The suspected got out of his vehicle and stood next to the victim’s car. The deputy saw on the video a “flash” in the area of the Prius’ passenger window. The suspect then drove out of the parking lot and southbound on Oak Grove Drive.

July 31

Petty thefts, vehicles: 1900 block of Ravista Lane and 4900 block of Palm Drive. Deputies following up on a call from a La Crescenta man who found handbags in front of his Franklin Street residence learned that someone had entered two La Cañada cars and removed the bags from them before discarding them in the La Crescenta yard.

In the Ravista Lane case, a woman’s black handbag has taken from the rear floor mat of her car, which had been left parked in her driveway at about 5:30 p.m. on July 30. She was uncertain as to whether or not she’d locked it before leaving it there.

At 4:11 a.m. July 31 she received a text message that someone had attempted to fraudulently use one of her Visa cards at a La Crescenta gas station. Although the handbag was returned to her after having been found in La Crescenta, it was missing a green leather wallet that had contained three Visa cards, medical cards, a library card and cash. Also taken was a business card case containing two Amazon gift cards, three Panera Bakery gift cards and three Starbucks gift cards. There was no sign of forced entry to her car.

In the Palm Drive incident, a woman parked her car in front of the house at about 8 p.m. July 30, and believed she’d left it locked. When she returned to it at 8:30 a.m. July 31, she noticed the trunk was ajar. Stolen from inside her vehicle was a purple handbag containing miscellaneous papers and personal items , a small pouch containing cosmetic items and a bag containing miscellaneous personal documents. All of her pilfered items were retrieved from the La Crescenta man’s yard.

Aug. 1

Burglary, residential: 4800 block of Hampton Road. A man reported that he left his home at 5:30 p.m. that date, after first making sure all doors and windows were locked and secured, and the audible alarm was set. His wife, who was out of town, called him on his cellphone at about 8 p.m. to tell him that their next-door neighbor had called her at 7:40 p.m. to say she could hear the house alarm.

The neighbor, as instructed, went to the home to reset the alarm. As she approached the house, she saw the front door was ajar. She stepped inside to reset the alarm system via the keypad near the front door. She did not walk through the property to investigate its condition. The man returned home at about 8:30 p.m. When he walked into the kitchen he could see a sliding-glass door had been shattered. In the living room, he saw couch cushions scattered about. Drawers in both the guest bedroom and the master bedroom were open and appeared to have been rummaged through. During a walk-through with law enforcement, he could not immediately identify anything as missing.

Aug. 4

Burglary, residential: 300 block of Starlight Crest Drive. The Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station received a call reporting that a U.S. Postal Service mail carrier had walked up to a residence to deliver a package and saw the front door appeared to have been opened by force. Deputies arrived at the scene, entered the five-bedroom home and found no one inside. A laundry room door leading to the outside was open. They surmised entry was through the front door and that exit was made through the laundry room door. The interior of the house was in a state of disarray. They found the victim’s phone number and called him. When he arrived home from work he could see that three rifles had been taken, one a Smith & Wesson .223 caliber, the second a a Sig-Sauer .22 caliber, and the third was a PTR .308 caliber., all stored in black plastic cases.

Petty theft: 2200 block of Foothill Boulevard. A woman reported that at about 5:45 p.m. she was working the cash register at a restaurant when a a man and a female approached and placed an order. When she turned away to complete their order, the man — according to an eyewitness — reached over the counter and grabbed the employee’s Apple iPhone 6 in a Minnie Mouse case from the top of the cash register. The man and woman then ran out of the business, got into a white Hyundai and drove westbound on Foothill Boulevard. The male suspect was described as white, in his 20s, 6 feet tall, 130 pounds, brown hair and wearing a black tank top.