Crime Report: 5 more La Cañada homes burglarized as break-ins continue to plague community

Jan. 17

Burglary: 4500 block of Alcorn Drive. A home was broken into sometime between 3 p.m. Jan. 11 and 12:15 p.m. Jan. 17, while its homeowner was out of town. A woman who had been asked to keep an eye on the house stopped by on Jan. 17 to discover all bedrooms had been ransacked and a glass door leading to the master bedroom had been shattered. The property has an alarm system that was armed but not triggered during the event. It was unknown at the time the report was taken whether or not anything was taken.

Jan. 18

Grand theft: 900 block of Town Center Drive. A woman who with her daughters visited two businesses in the center, Panera and the Baked Bear, reported that her high-end Louis Vuitton wallet was stolen sometime between 4 and 4:30 p.m. She made a purchase at Panera, put the debit card she used to do so back in her wallet, then put the wallet in her handbag. She hung her handbag on the back of the chair she used at a booth there. She said she stood up and left it unattended for a few seconds while she was still at the restaurant. Afterward, they went to her car, where she retrieved something from the rear compartment, then they visited the Baked Bear to buy ice cream. It was there that she discovered the wallet — containing I.D. cards, Costco and AAA membership, debit and credit cards — was missing. She later learned that one of her credit cards had been used to make a purchase at a Target store.

Jan. 19

Burglary: 1200 block of Journey’s End Drive. A burglar alarm went off shortly after 10 p.m. while the residents were picking up relatives from LAX. The woman of the household received a call from their alarm company alerting her to the alarm’s activation, so she notified the CV Sheriff’s Station. A responding deputy found the master bedroom ransacked. The woman said she recalled seeing a dark-colored four-door sedan parked across the street from their home when they left for the airport but did not see anyone in it. Five men’s wristwatches were taken during the break-in, and the glass in a French door was shattered.

Burglary: 3900 block of Alta Vista Drive. Responding to an 8:54 p.m. audible alarm, a deputy found a rear French door on the first floor shattered. Inside, he found the upper level master bedroom closets ransacked and the glass on a balcony door shattered. There were footprints and a smudged handprint on the second level roof tiles next to the balcony. It was unknown what might have been taken.

Jan. 20

Burglary: 4300 block of Commonwealth Avenue. Miscellaneous pieces of fine jewelry were taken sometime between 6 a.m. on Jan. 18 and 12:30 p.m. on Jan. 20 when the homeowner was out of town. He reported that when he returned he found an interior glass door leading to his den, which is kept locked, shattered and a French door leading outdoors unlocked. In the den, all drawers and cabinets had been opened, but it appeared nothing had been taken. Walking around the rest of the house, he found most drawers and cabinets open. The master bedroom, a spare bedroom and an office were all ransacked. It appeared someone used trash cans to gain entry via a second-story balcony, then exited through a first floor door.

Burglary: 4300 block of Beulah Drive. Sometime between 6:30 p.m. Jan. 19 and 4 p.m. Jan. 20, a rear glass door of a home was shattered. When the homeowner returned and saw the broken glass, he exited the house and called law enforcement. When a deputy arrived the master bedroom dresser drawer was found open and the closet had been ransacked. The victim could not immediately identify what might have been stolen.

Jan. 21

Petty theft: 4100 block of Encinas Drive. A woman who received a text at 11:02 a.m. from Amazon advising her a package had just been delivered, opened her front door one minute later to see a Latino — dressed in black pants, a black shirt and wearing a black cap — holding the package and then carrying it down the front stairs to a white SUV waiting below. The SUV had plates designating a disabled driver and a Lyft sticker on the back window. The man climbed into the passenger seat and the vehicle was driven away by a heavyset woman whose dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail. The package contained a women’s workout sweater.