Crime Report: 2 men flee when Highland Drive burglary is interrupted
Oct. 28
Petty theft: Crescent Avenue, Montrose. A woman reported that sometime between 9 p.m. Oct. 26 and 1 a.m. Oct. 27 someone stole her purse while she was attending a Halloween-themed dinner party with seven other adults and several teens. She said she had left the purse in the master bedroom, along with other guests’ items, and had placed her jacket on top of it. When she went to retrieve them, the purse was gone, but her wallet and keys were underneath her jacket. The stolen purse contained sunglasses, a makeup bag, body lotion, two prescription medicines, bank deposit slips, a California identification card and currency.
Theft by access card: 3900 block of Orangedale Avenue, Montrose. A woman reported that someone used her Citibank debit card to make several unauthorized purchases.
Oct. 30
Forgery: 5200 block of Stardust Road, La Cañada. A woman reported that a check she wrote to make a charitable donation on Sept. 30 was later altered by someone, causing her Wells Fargo checking account to become overdrawn. She was alerted to the fraudulent activity via an Oct. 29 email from the bank. She contacted a bank representative who told her they could not determine who had tried to cash the check.
Oct. 31
Theft by credit card, petty theft: 600 block of Foothill Boulevard, La Cañada. A woman shopping in a grocery store at around 3 p.m. Oct. 30 discovered at the checkout counter that someone had stolen her Coach wallet — containing her driver’s license, two credit cards, four gift cards and currency — while she shopped. She recalled being stopped on the bread aisle by a tall man in his late 20s or early 30s with a thick Mediterranean accent who asked her a question. Moving on toward the produce aisle, she was stopped by a Latino in his 20s who asked her in a heavy Spanish accent if there was a pharmacy in the store. Video surveillance shows both men walking out of the store together carrying an unidentified object. One of the victim’s credit cards was used to make a purchase at Target and another of her credit cards was used at Macy’s.
Mail theft: 300 block of Berkshire Avenue, La Cañada. A man reported that a package containing a pendant that he’d been expecting was stolen from his mailbox, along with some pieces of mail, sometime after a mail carrier delivered them at 1:37 p.m. on Oct. 30.
Burglary: 500 block of Highland Drive, La Cañada. Deputies called to an 8:50 p.m. report of a burglary in progress contained the area around the home and called in air support to search for suspects. At the scene they spoke to a witness who said she had just been dropped off at her mother’s home by her father. She unlocked the front door and stepped into the entry, then immediately spotted to her left a man with “dark skin,” about 5-feet 9, 180 pounds, dressed in all black, wearing black gloves and a black backpack with white reflectors on it. When the suspect saw her, he ran downstairs to the home’s bottom floor. The witness then heard what sounded to her like a second voice come from the same general direction downstairs. She ran out the front door and got back into her father’s car, as he had not yet left the driveway. She told him what had transpired and called 911. Another witness told the deputies he was driving directly behind two men running westbound on Dover Road, one of them dressed just as the first witness described him, the second man also dressed all in black. He tried to follow them but could not get around a large white vehicle blocking his way; he couldn’t tell if he was being intentionally blocked or if it was just another citizen driving on the narrow roadway. The woman who owns the burglarized home said that about 8:20 that night she had locked it and left the premises not seeing anything unusual on her way out. Half an hour later she received the frantic call from her daughter and returned home. The master bedroom and its closet had been ransacked, as had rooms on the bottom floor, where a glass door had been shattered to gain entry. It was not immediately known what might have been stolen.
Nov. 1
Theft by access card, possible mail theft: 2300 block of Pickens Canyon Road, La Crescenta. A woman reported that her renewed driver’s license did not show up in her mail although she’d been told it was mailed to her on Oct. 3. At about 2 p.m. on Oct. 26, she noticed her mailbox was open and empty. Several neighbors told her their mail had been stolen. She checked her credit card statements for fraudulent charges and found an unauthorized purchase that had been made to her Citi credit card. A review of her security system footage showed that at 11:32 a.m. Oct. 26 a blue compact, two-door sedan had been driven along her street and stopped in front of her mailbox. After a brief stop there, it could be seen being driven out of view of the camera.
Petty theft: 900 block of Foothill Boulevard, La Cañada. A loss prevention officer noticed a man who has previously been seen taking items from her company’s store in Pasadena, entered the La Cañada store at 4:25 p.m., went to the vitamin aisle and put six bottles of vitamins in the front of his pants. He walked out of the store without paying for them. The officer followed him out and asked him to return to the store. He did, but then led her on a chase toward the back of the store, pulling some of the bottles out of his pants along the way. He turned and ran back out the main entrance, down Beulah to Descanso Drive and out of view. It was determined he got away with two of the six items he’d originally tried to steal. He is described as about 35 to 45 years old white, bald, 5 feet 6 to 5 feet 9, 170 to 180 pounds.
Nov. 3
Burglary: 4900 block of Vineta Avenue, La Cañada. A man reported that sometime between 9 p.m. Oct. 31 and Nov. 3 someone entered his home, ransacked rooms throughout it and stole a black metal safe containing 12 settings of silverware, three silver serving dishes with lids and 10 solid gold spoons. The glass in a door that leads outside from a bedroom had been shattered.
Compiled from reports on file at the Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station.