Police Blotter: Backseat Mischief and Burglary Ring Busted

Crime in recent weeks has ranged from petty theft to an organized burglary ring in the nearby areas patrolled by the Los Angeles Police Department's Pacific Division and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Marina del Rey station.

LAPTOP, GUN STOLEN

Someone broke a patio door lock and stole a black Taurus semi-automatic handgun and a 17-inch Dell laptop, according to a sheriff deputy's report.

The burglary occurred Feb. 4 between 7:45 a.m. and 8:10 p.m. at a residence and when deputies arrived they found the lock broken on a glass patio door. There were pry marks on the door frame where the lock was broken, a deputy said. A bedroom appeared to be ransacked and all the drawers of a dresser were open. The victim told deputies that his $650 gun was taken from a dresser drawer in his bedroom. There was an outline of dust on a dining room table where the man's $2,100 laptop had been.

Neighbors did not report seeing anyting out of the ordinary.

No arrests were made.

REVOLVER STOLEN

A man told sheriff's deputies that someone stole a .357 Smith & Wesson revolver sometime between Jan. 20 and Feb. 6 from his bedroom.

Deputies said the man reported last seeing his gun on Jan. 20 in a brown leather bag underneath his bed and noticed it was missing Feb. 6. The man said he had numerous people in his home for a remodeling project and believed workers who were in his home to replace a heating system stole the gun. The victim told deputies that the heating system workers were the only ones in his bedroom without supervision during the period when the gun went missing, a deputy's report said.

No arrests were made.

TIME THIEF

A $20,000 Audemars Piguet stainless steel watch was reported stolen Feb. 7 after it disappeared from the concierge office at an apartment complex, according to a sheriff deputy's report.

The watch was mailed to the victim who confirmed via a Federal Express tracking number that the watch had been delivered and signed for by an apartment complex employee. The concierge office confirmed receiving the watch Dec. 17 when the victim was out of town. When the man returned to the area, he contacted employees about the package, but no one was able to find it.

The employee who signed for the package no longer worked at the apartment complex when the victim tried to pick up his watch.

No arrest was made.

BACK SEAT MISCHIEF

Three people reported in separate incidents that the back seats of their vehicles were stolen, according to sheriff deputies' reports.

One woman reported Feb. 16 that the rear third-row seats of her 2007 Cadillac Escalade were removed between 5:30 p.m. Feb. 15 and 6:30 p.m. Feb. 16. All the windows of the vehicle were locked and there were no signs of forced entry.

Another man reported the same day that someone stole the rear seat out of his Chevy SUV that was parked in his driveway. The door lock on the driver's side appeared to be punched in and the seat apparently was removed through the vehicle's rear door.

Yet another man reported Feb. 19 that someone took the $5,000 navigation system and $3,000 third-row leather seats from his 2007 GMC Yukon. The Yukon had been parked and locked in the man's driveway and the driver-side door lock appeared to be punched in.

No arrests were made in any of the three cases.

BURGLARY RING BUSTED

Los Angeles Police Officers in the Pacific Division, which includes Playa del Rey and Del Rey, recovered $18,000 worth of stolen property after arresting a three-person burglary team.

A resident saw three suspicious young black men knocking on a neighbor's door Feb. 7 and asked them if they needed something. They responded that they were looking for a friend and gave a name, but the neighbor told them the name didn't sound familiar, said Officer Marcela Garcia, senior lead officer for the Del Rey area, in an e-mail. The neighbor called police, gave a description of the suspects and Pacific Division officers who were on extra patrol found three suspects matching their description. The suspects were arrested for three residential burglaries and an attempted burglary.

About $18,000 worth of stolen property was found in their backpacks along with tools used to break into the homes.

Young gang members have been using similar tactics to burglarize homes for years, Garcia said. They normally work in gorups and knock on doors to see if anyone is home. If anyone answers, they say they are looking for someone or selling something. If no one is home, they typically break in through a window or door and let the others in. They usually have one or more members of the burglary team remain outside as lookout and sometimes use cell phones to communicate with each other, Garcia said.

This new generation of burglars are well groomed, dress well and try to blend into the neighborhood. They sometimes commit their crimes after taking a bus or driving into the area in a rental vehicle.

Police released seven photographs of recently stolen items and asked the public to call if any of the items look familiar.