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Crime Report: Jewelry taken from 2 homes; gym member caught stealing on camera later taken to hospital

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Jan. 11

Burglary, residence: 5000 block of Commonwealth Avenue. A woman reported leaving her secured home at around 9:30 a.m. that day. When her daughter came home at around 10:55 a.m., she noticed all three bedrooms had been ransacked. A rear bathroom window was slightly ajar and there was a muddy footprint on the windowsill. Deputies observed the window screen had been pried off. Among the items reported stolen were multiple rings with stones in them, several pieces of Tiffany & Co. jewelry, two Rolex watches and a Chanel opal necklace with black stones, among others, in addition to 45 $20 bills. The victim said she could not recall all of the items that were missing.

Jan. 16

Petty theft, mail: 4800 block of Hill Street. A woman said sometime between 10 a.m. and around 2 p.m. that day, someone stole her mail. A neighbor’s surveillance camera showed mailboxes on the street were closed at 11:29 a.m. and hanging open at 2:09 p.m., but did not show suspects or a vehicle.

Jan. 17

Petty theft: 890 Town Center Drive. On Jan. 11, a woman left her purse on a shelf at Anytime Fitness at around 3 p.m. to attend a private fitness session. When she returned at around 4 p.m., she noticed her wallet, containing her driver’s license, two Visa gift cards, a credit card and several membership cards, had been emptied. When she returned to the gym the next day, a manager told her video surveillance showed an adult male take the contents of her wallet, and identified the suspect as a gym member. He said the man’s membership had been canceled and gave the victim the man’s contact information. When she called the phone number, the suspect’s mother acknowledged her son has a drug problem and said she’d talk with him. As deputies were gathering information on the case, they recalled the suspect’s name matched that of a man who’d been transported to USC Verdugo Hills Hospital the same evening as the theft at around 5:56 p.m., for chest pains.

Petty theft, shoplifting: 500 block of Foothill Boulevard. A store employee said at around 10 p.m. the day, she saw an adult black male, about 20 to 30 years old, about 6 feet 2 and around 175 pounds, wearing a black baseball cap and sweatshirt, enter the store. He asked her co-worker to unlock the liquor display case, selected two bottles of Hennessy cognac and carried them to an open register. He then suddenly took off with the bottles, exiting the store and running northbound on Gould Avenue out of view.

Petty theft, mail: 100 block of Green Lane. A man told deputies he’d ordered some books from Amazon and gotten notice they were shipped on Jan. 14 and placed in his mailbox two days later, though he’d never received them.

Jan. 18

Burglary, vehicle: 4600 block of Alveo Road. A deputy responding to a call of mail theft and a vehicle break-in was flagged down by a resident who said sometime between 6 p.m. the day before and 7:30 a.m. that day, someone shattered the front passenger window of her 2015 Lexus RX350 and stole an orange Longchamp bag, containing a book of church music and a black lace veil, from the front seat. She said at around 3 a.m., she heard seven to 10 loud tapping sounds but did not investigate further. A rock was seen outside the vehicle. A neighbor’s surveillance camera captured a set of vehicle taillights driving away at 3:17 a.m.

Vandalism: 4300 block of Oakwood Avenue. A woman told deputies sometime between 2 p.m. Tuesday and 8:40 a.m. that day, someone pried open her locked mailbox and threw her mail on the ground, although no mail appeared to have been missing.

Jan. 19

Grand theft: 600 block of Knight Way. A woman, expecting location managers for a reality show to visit her home, collected items in a box to be taken to a second-floor closet at around noon the day before. There was a Ziploc bag full of jewelry collected from throughout the house to be put into a safe. She got distracted by phone calls and forgot to move the items. When getting ready for bed at around 8 p.m., she retrieved the box and took it upstairs, not recalling whether the bag full of jewelry was still there. At around 2 a.m., she woke in a panic remembering the jewelry, but could not find it. She told deputies she had not left the house, and that the only other people who’d been there were a landscaper, a friend who helps out around the house and a male house guest who’s been staying there for the past few months, whom she’d told earlier the day before would have to move out for failure to pay rent. Among the items missing were five rings containing diamonds, sapphires and various gem stones and two diamond bracelets.

Jan. 20

Theft by credit card; identity theft: 4600 block of Vineta Avenue. A woman got an email on Dec. 30 telling her a charge had been made to her Macy’s account, although she was in possession of the card and had not been shopping. The next day, she closed the account, but later learned several more fraudulent charges were made to the closed account. While monitoring her credit history, she learned a Bank of America Alaskan Airlines credit card had been opened in her name, although there were no charges on it. On Jan. 5, she got a bill from AT&T, thought she does not have an account there. The account was opened with five different phone numbers, which she canceled.

Compiled by Sara Cardine

sara.cardine@latimes.com

Twitter: @SaraCardine

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