Family returns home to find burglars on roof on same night City Council is told of uptick in such crimes
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department detectives are investigating a home burglary that occurred on the 500 block of La Cañada’s Georgian Road Tuesday night and was interrupted when the family returned home to find the suspects on the roof.
Sgt. Alan Chu, a detective with the Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station, said the homeowners returned home at around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, noticing only that a white Buick SUV was parked in front of the property.
They entered the residence without noticing anything out of the ordinary. Then, one of the family members spotted the suspects out back.
“A woman went to the kitchen to wash her hands and she saw them jumping from the roof to the backyard,” Chu said Wednesday. “They [then] jumped into the white Buick and drove off.”
It is believed the suspects may have gained entry into the property by breaking a door or window at the rear of the home. Chu said a phone and some currency were reported missing.
On Tuesday, shortly before 10 p.m., several of the family members stood outside across from the home as deputies searched the property for any possible remaining suspects. No further information on the suspects seen by the homeowner was available at press time.
Just hours earlier in a meeting of the La Cañada Flintridge City Council, the Crescenta Valley station’s acting captain, Lt. Mark Slater, reported 13 residential burglaries took place in February, bringing this year’s total to 23 — about 28% above year-to-date figures from 2018.
Of this month’s 13 reported incidents, Slater said four were attempts only and were thwarted before the suspects could enter the property.
“On the attempts, Ring cameras worked in one of the incidents. It scared off the potential burglars because the person communicated [to them] through their Ring camera device and said, ‘I’m calling the police.’ The video shows two men hopping the fence and running away.”
Tuesday’s incident on Georgian Road marks the sixth home break-in so far this month, according to information from the online crime reporting site crimemapping.com. Another residential burglary occurred on the 300 block of Georgian on March 7.
Anyone with information is encouraged to call the Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station at (818) 248-3464.
Twitter: @SaraCardine
