Some residents in Sherman Oaks, Encino and Van Nuys consider they’re victims of the identical housebreaking crew, with owners posting movies of look-alike thieves, all of whom seem to flee in a Toyota Camry.
Surveillance footage from an Aug. 8 tried break-in at one of many properties, owned by a girl recognized solely as Sofia, exhibits two masked males in hoodies on her property.
“I really noticed one man working down the aspect of my residence,” she defined. “My coronary heart dropped and instantly, I known as 911.”
The suspects, who might need gotten spooked, have been on her property for lower than two minutes earlier than they circled and have been seen dashing down the aspect of her residence and out the best way they got here.
Sofia, who stated it took police about 20 minutes to reach, believes she was focused as a result of she wasn’t at residence. Simply days later, on Aug. 15, there was one other break-in in the identical space, adopted by another on the evening of Aug. 17.
“They undergo the again sliding doorways,” Sofia stated. “They’ll test to see if the sliding door is open. If it’s not open, they’ll break the glass, however they’re going in from the again.”
In accordance with Sofia, about half-hour after the tried break-in at residence, she thinks the identical Toyota Camry got here again after which sped off when the suspects noticed police on the scene.
It’s not unusual for thieves to return to the scene of a break-in. A house within the Pacific Palisades had two break-ins in one night.
In accordance with Crosstown L.A., an impartial information group, burglaries are up by 4% within the first half of 2024 in comparison with that point final yr.
A lot of the burglaries happen between 6 p.m. and midnight, Interim Los Angeles Police Division Chief Dominic Choi told the L.A. Police Commision in July. Choi added, “A few of these are when residents are literally residence, what we contemplate a ‘scorching prowl,’ which turns into far more severe.”
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Sofia’s recommendation to others is to spend money on an alarm system and safety cameras for the house.
“In the event you’re not residence, you must depart your lights on, you must give the phantasm that there’s somebody residence,” she stated. “One thing must be completed as a result of my coronary heart goes out to individuals who must undergo this and it’s getting out of line. I do know we are able to do one thing, we are able to do higher.”
Neighborhoods within the San Fernando Valley have been hit significantly onerous this yr, with at the very least eight burglaries reported within the Valley in July alone.
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