Crime Report: Real estate agent discovers wallet is missing after open house

Jan. 23

Forgery, check: 4300 block of Belaire Drive. A woman told deputies that sometime between noon and 4 p.m. someone stole a check from her mailbox. She received a call from a Bank of America representative informing her someone attempted to deposit a check made out to her company and into an unknown account. The representative said the check was deemed to have been forged and was not ultimately deposited.

Jan. 24

Burglary, residence: 5000 block of Angeles Crest Highway. A man left his residence at around 8:15 a.m., locking all windows and doors except for one rear sliding-glass door. When he came home at around 4:45 p.m., he walked into the dining room area and saw the front door was ajar.

An upstairs master bedroom and closet had been ransacked and several items stolen, including four designer men’s watches made by Cartier, Rolex and Gucci, as well as a jewelry box.

In a walk-through of the property, deputies observed an open gate and what appeared to be four fresh footprints.

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Jan. 25

Burglary, residence: 300 block of Oriole Road. Speaking through a translator, a homeowner told deputies he and his family left their home at around 10 a.m. the day before. When they returned home the next day at around 4:30 p.m., they found a door just north of the garage was opened and its jamb splintered.

Inside, an unactivated doorbell camera inside the door had been taken off and dismantled. The only thing that appeared to have been taken was a metal Rolex watch that had been atop a dresser in the master bedroom.

The victim said when he left with his family, they’d noticed three Hispanic males not known in the area walking down the street. Deputies observed a large footprint on a side door where entry had been made.

Identity theft: 800 block of Chehalem Road. A man said he received a letter two days earlier from Verizon Wireless, stating his account was past due with an outstanding balance, though he does not have such an account. When he called the provider, he learned the account had been opened sometime in November by an unknown person, using the victim’s name and Social Security number.

Jan. 26

Petty theft: 1000 block of Flanders Road. A female real estate agent was working at an open house on Jan. 22 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Just before the event, she placed her purse and wallet in the home’s kitchen pantry. When she went to retrieve it afterward, she noticed her wallet was missing. The wallet contained an unspecified amount of cash, two Bank of America and Citibank checkbooks and several credit cards in her name.

Forgery, mail theft: 4600 block of Palm Drive. On Jan. 2, a woman visited her new home and noticed that several mailboxes on the street had been opened. Although she and her husband were expecting an escrow check and documents, their mailbox was empty. On Jan. 18, she received a phone call from her escrow company informing her that someone had cashed the check four days earlier.

Jan. 27

Forgery, check: 2100 block of La Cañada Crest Drive. A man told deputies he received a call the day before from Chase Bank asking if he’d cashed or authorized a check cashed from his checking account two days earlier. When he checked his account online, he saw a transaction and a deduction from his account. The bank subsequently closed the account.

Deputies noted that the name on the check returned information on someone from Los Angeles.

Forgery: 555 Foothill Blvd. Deputies responded to a call from Wells Fargo Bank, where a black female wearing a black track suit was allegedly trying to cash a forged check and was still in the lobby.

A teller told deputies the woman came to her window asking to cash a check. When the teller looked up the woman’s account, she noticed there was a negative balance. She also saw the name of the check’s payee did not match the woman’s name.

A bank service manager told deputies she called the number on the account printout and verified the check was fraudulent, and that the name of the payee had been scratched out and replaced with the suspect’s name. The manager said a man who’d been with the suspect, described as a black male adult, had left the location before deputies arrived.

The suspect said she’d received the check in the mail. Deputies believe the woman used a chemical agent to try to remove the name on the check and typed her own name over it.

Burglary, residence: 300 block of Santa Inez Way. A man said he was notified by his alarm company that sometime between 5 and 7:46 p.m., his home alarm had been activated. In a walk-through, deputies observed a rear glass door had been smashed open. The victim did not know whether anything had been taken.

Burglary, residence: 500 block of Dartmouth Place. A man reported sometime between 6:15 and 8:30 p.m., someone broke into his home and stole five designer handbags made by Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Jimmy Choo, as well as a Rolex watch and gold necklace from the downstairs master bedroom. Deputies observed someone had smashed a glass window in the master bedroom and ransacked a closet, strewing clothes throughout the room.

Compiled by Sara Cardine