LAPD: Sherman Oaks/Van Nuys Residential Burglaries
Van Nuys Burglary Detectives are reporting serveral residential burgalries took place over the weekend in the area of RD991 (Mullholland Drive to Beverly Glen to Valley Vista Blvd. to the 405 Freeway.) All of these took place during daytime hours.
Several other burgalaries also occured in RD966 (Woodwan Ave to the 101 Freeway to Fulton Ave to Chandler Blvd.) Suspects are described at four male Hispanics, 20-25 years old driving a 2004-2007 Totota Camry or Nissan Altima metalic gold in color. Suspects were also discribed as wearing LA Dodger apparel.
In many of these burglaries the suspected enetered through open attached garages which gave them access to the residence.
If you have any additional information please call Van Nuys Burglary Detective Robert Kraus at 25895@lapd.lacity.org or 818-374-0031.
The Small Illegalities.
15137 Gilmore St. Van Nuys, CA 91411
15137 Gilmore St. Van Nuys, CA 91411
A ridge is defined as a small, narrow hilltop. It is also one half of Kester Ridge, our growing neighborhood Facebook group that seeks to build a consensus on improving Van Nuys radiating from Victory/Sepulveda.
We gathered, about 20 of us, last night, at my neighbor’s house. The participants are homeowners, of all ages, all white. A few had just moved in, fixed up their houses, told stories of planting grass seed instead of sod, soliciting HGTV for a kitchen remodel.
Quite a few are “looking for work”, “between jobs”, “working from home”, all the tender euphemisms for the unemployed.
At home, all day, in the Valley heat, they bear witness to the pathologies of the area, the small illegalities: discarded food wrappers, pot smoking kids in cars, taggers, barking dogs, dog shit.
A block captain, a longtime resident here, spoke of walking her beat, her conversations with LAPD SLO Rich DeMauro, the calls about prostitution, the whores who walk up and down, the johns who pick them up, the discarded condoms.
The whore talk took up most of the time, an issue as endemic and real to Van Nuys as Botox is to Beverly Hills.
We talked about the slum mall at 14851 Victory at Kester, a commercial property of seven thriving businesses whose trash has piled up on the side of the street for years. A $10 broom would cure this cancer.
The trash pickers, the ones who go through recyclables and rip open bags, they also were decried. It is illegal to steal from the blue recycle bin, but in modern California, tolerance, not statute is law.
We spoke of the wig and costumed prostitutes who go around in their cars and change into new outfits to escape arrest.
A real life crime story too…
A new homeowner had captured, in his driveway, a man in a pick up truck, loading up a stolen whole house air-conditioning condenser. The victim grabbed onto the driver, holding his neck, but the thief escaped and drove off, was later arrested and is now paying off his theft.
Overall, looking at these respectable, articulate, thoughtful, nice neighbors, so at odds with the image of Van Nuys, one yearns for a real government of real laws, responsive to constituents, a government intolerant of the small illegalities.
All anyone wants is a quiet, peaceful, safe, sane place to live.
Meanwhile in Los Angeles….
Our nation and the world is horrified and sickened by the bloodshed in Aurora, CO.
Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, here are some of the local headlines of what is happening in our neighborhoods over the last four days:
- 15-Year-Old Boy Shot to Death in North Hollywood Identified. The deadly attack occurs on the 11000 block of Tiara Street, according to police.
- Man Shot in Butt at West Hollywood Park
- Second Anaheim officer-involved shooting during weekend kills man
- Man holding knife to baby’s throat shot by Moreno Valley police
- Suspect in L.A. homeless stabbings linked to two other attacks, police say
- Man killed, woman injured in Boyle Heights shooting
Link
Crime Story: Van Nuys, CA 1959
Crime Story: Van Nuys, CA 1959
|
Burglaries in Sherman Oaks.
From LAPD’s Ron Carter:
“Those of you who receive “Nixle” messages have already received this update. For those who have not gone onto the LAPD Web at www.lapdonline.org and registered to receive “Nixle”messages and alerts, please consider checking it out. I receive Nixle at my home with current update information.
On November 30th (Thursday) between the hours of 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. there were three (3) additional residential burglaries at the 3400, 3600 blocks of Longridge Drive and at the 3600 block of Cody Drive.
At one of these residences, the alarm frightened off the burglars, who left taking only a wallet and a lap-top. At the second location, the alarm was not turned on and the suspects left with assorted jewelry, shoes, I-Pads, Computers, Television, Game Consoles and multiple credit cards. This burglar smashed a rear window using a concrete table in the yard. Please remember to always activate your alarms, even when you are home.
Many of your neighbors are not active in a Neighborhood Watch, and may not attend their local Government meetings , so it is important that we all share this information. This will help us all to get through the Holidays with less chance of becoming the victim of a crime. It is the “Fear of Crime” which we must also work hard to remove from the neighborhoods.
Thank you for being vigilant in your efforts to look for suspicious activities and persons who you do not recognize from the neighborhood.
Remember, for non-emergency, please call (818) 734-2223 and of course, if you see a crime “in progress” then it may be a “911″ call. Let our Officers verify if that person does have legitimate business in your neighborhood.
I am sending this e-mail to all of my Group Contacts, because this can happen anywhere and anytime. Being aware, alert and knowing “Who to call, When to call and What to say“makes a difference. Please read the attachment.
Sincerely,
S.L.O. Ron Carter”
Can You Tell if a Street is Safe Just By Looking? – Technology – The Atlantic Cities
Can You Tell if a Street is Safe Just By Looking? – Technology – The Atlantic Cities.
Brazen Daylight Residential Burglaries.
This happened at my house in Van Nuys last week. Someone knocked on the door and asked if “Byron” was here. I answered the door (without opening it). I noticed the suspect had backed up his pickup truck in my driveway. I captured his license plate. I called the LAPD.
This is from Woodland Hills LAPD:
Advisory Message has been issued by the LAPD – Topanga Station.
Wednesday June 22, 2011 1:24 PM PDT
Information regarding burglaries taking place in the Woodland HIlls area.
Within the past couple of months, Topanga Division has had a string of residential burglaries in Woodland Hills. The suspects in these burglaries have been kicking in the front door of the house when there is no answer to a knock or door-bell ring. Historically, burglaries occur in the daytime when people are at work, as this is when there is a less likely chance that they are going to be seen or caught.
Since there are a number of residents in the area who stay home in the daytime, you may experience or have already experienced a solicitor who knocks on your door. When you open the door, they may appear surprised and come up with a quick response as to why they were at your door such as, “Sorry, wrong residence” or “I’m looking for somebody.” Whatever the excuse is, be cognizant of their description and of any vehicles they arrive/drive away in. They could be casing your house and checking to see if you are home.
A few weeks ago, on Wells Drive and Canoga Avenue, a resident approached the inside of their front door after someone knocked. The victim quietly looked through the peep hole and observed a tall, medium build, male Black wearing a baseball cap standing on her porch. As the victim quietly moved to open the door the suspect kicked it in believing that no one was home. The suspect was then confronted by the victim, and fled from the location.
We believe that the suspects are moving around the area in a vehicle and possibly working as a team of 3-4 people. There will possibly be a “lay off” person who approaches your door, and a “look out” person on the sidewalk or in the vehicle on their cell phone. In the past, the suspects have been known to reverse their vehicle into the driveway of the house and park there, as if they live there. The suspect vehicle has also been known to leave the house and wait down the street while the suspects ransack your property. The suspect’s vehicle will return after they have gathered all your belongings and placed them by the door. The suspects can be male or female.
Be on the look-out for this type of activity and contact 911 if you believe that the suspect could be casing your residence or your neighbors. If it is possible to safely do, please get a license plate number of the suspicious vehicle. Please forward this and any other pertinent information to your Senior Lead Officer. For full details, go to
https://local.nixle.com/alert/4703971/?sub_id=264372
.
Contact Information:
LAPD-Topanga
Topanga
818-756-3180
topangapolice@lapd.lacity.org
Casing the Hood…
What if you were at home around Noon and there was a loud pounding on your front door?
You went to answer it and a young Latino said, “Oh, hey. I was just looking for Byron”.
When you told him there was no Byron at this address, he said, “OK thanks!”
And if you went out and followed him, you would see that he had backed his gold pickup truck into your driveway and that he had a CA License 8M59236.
A truck full of boxes. Backed into a driveway of home where he was not expected…..
Would you not think that this person was casing the hood and intending to find houses where nobody was home?
This is what happened here today and all people should be aware that this type of suspect and dubious and possibly criminal activity is going on all over the city.
And if this person was truly looking for Byron…I hope he finds him working at LAPD’s Van Nuys Division.
LAPD Warns on Underground Garages in SFV.
From SLO/LAPD’s Ron Carter:
“Dear LAPD Family & Friends,
Last night (Monday) our Officers responded to two (2) underground parking lot robberies, where the suspect was armed and property was taken by force from the victims. The location of these incidents was in the 15200 block of Valleyheart Drive in Sherman Oaks, in the 15000 block of Victory Boulevard and a third in North Hollywood, but the method used was similar for all of them.
The suspect was described as a Male Black, Gray sweatshirt with hoodie and a dark bandana. He approached the victim and pointed a handgun. The suspect demanded money and jewlery. The suspect took cash and then went through the victim’s purse, fleeing on foot.
Please remember that if you are entering your parking structure, it is important to first scan the exterior as well as the interior, before you enter or exit from your residence. Check your side-view and rear-view mirrors as you enter, making sure that there is no one standing nearby waiting to follow you into the parking area. It is common for these criminals to wait for a car to enter, let them pull forward into their parking spot and then sneak into the garage while the gate is still open or closing. As a good neighbor, it would be recommended that you practice this technique and let it become a habit which will keep you safer and also help to keep your neighbors safer as well.
The issue is that we all seem to be in a hurry these days, myself included, and this prevents us from taking simple precautions that are necessary anywhere at home, in the State and across the Country and abroad. Criminals are the same everywhere and are becoming increasingly keener in their use of technology, disguises and distractions.
What do I do if I see a prowler loitering nearby to my parking garage, you may ask? Well, first of all, stay focused on your surroundings and if you are feeling uneasy, do not enter the parking lot. Go around the block and return to see if this person is still there. Depending on his actions, this may be a “911″ call for a “prowler suspect there now“, or for any other criminal actions that you observe. Stay calm, but try to give a good description of this suspect, including gender, descent, height & weight, clothing and any unusual features. If this person is seen running away or leaving the location, please try to give the Operator a direction of travel so Officers can try to locate this individual and determine his/her business in the area.
Please remember that your Police Department does not want you to become confrontational, but to obtain this information from a safe place. You are extremely valuable to us and we wouldn’t want anything to happen to anyone.
Thank you for all your hard work to make our communities safer and for taking the time to read this and distribute it to other family, friends and neighbors. “
Sincerely,
S.L.O. Ron Carter
LAPD Letter re. Auto Break-ins and Theft.
from SLO Ron Carter, LAPD, who works in the Van Nuys area:
Dear LAPD Family & Friends,
On 12/23/10 in the early morning hours, a resident at the 6400 block of Hazeltine received an activation from her vehicle’s alarm and went outside to check. As she did so, she saw two males running from her vehicle and towards a black SUV parked nearby. They left quickly and she was able to get the license plate for our Officers. The resident found that these suspects had tried to remove her factory installed stereo and GPS, but had failed due to the alarm sounding and causing their retreat. (Another reminder to have an alarm installed and to turn it on).
She provided the descriptions to our officers and Detectives and a follow-up was made to the registered owner’s address, where an arrest was made. The person arrested admitted to multiple auto break-ins in Van Nuys, in my Basic Car area and in North Hollywood and elsewhere. The Property Crimes Unit for Van Nuys did an outstanding job, along with our Auto Detectives in interviewing the driver/owner of the vehicle and now we are looking for additional victims who may have had some smaller items taken from their vehicles.
Some of these items were identifiable by name, but there were other items that cannot be readily tracked back to their owners. If anyone has had any collectable “Betty Boop” items taken from the scene of a car break-in (BFMV) please contact the Van Nuys Auto Detectives at (818) 374-0020. We are also looking for the owners of additional items, such as many car stereos (possibly unreported by the car-owners) , Leather Bags, belt-buckles, back-packs, motor-cycle helmets and assorted other items. If you can describe any of the items that were recovered, please call our Detectives.
At two of the recent break-ins along Colbath Avenue, there was nothing noted as missing, however, these criminals have taken paperwork, personal bank statements, smaller items, etc., so please re-examine your vehicles if you reprted the windows smashed but found nothing apparently missing and then contact our Detectives or myself.
Once again, the community participating in the apprehension of criminals who were attacking our community has proven successful. The resident who reported the crime was a great witness, obtained the license plate of the vehicle (safely) and made a positive identification of the driver who was arrested. Thanks to her active participation, other crimes in the S.F. Valley are being solved. This sends out a strong message to others that our community cares and knows what to say, when to call and who to call when bad things happen. Thank you very much to our involved citizen for great teamwork and for definitely making a difference in the neighborhood! Just a reminder that we do not encourage confrontations between our residents and criminals, so please be a good witness and stay safe. A good pair of binoculars can help in obtaining a license plate from a safe distance.
Sincerely,
Happy New Year!
S.L.O. Ron Carter
LAPD Report on Crime Fighting in Van Nuys.
From LAPD Senior Lead Officer Ron Carter who works in the Van Nuys Division:
Sunday, December 26, 2010, 4:22 PM
Dear LAPD Family & Friends,
Just wanted to give you a little taste of the outstanding Police-Work that is being accomplished in your communities.
On December 22nd at about 5:00 p.m. I overheard a radio call regarding an Assault with a Deadly Weapon and shot-fired in the 14400 block of Kittridge Street. The Victim had been pistol-whipped by a gang-member, who thought that he was also a gang-member. Well, he wasn’t and as he was struck with the weapon, a shot went off, missing the victim.
Units arriving put out the vehicle description and suspect description and within a half hour or so, the vehicle was located by one of our Gang-Units. The driver turned out his lights and tried to evade our officers, who stuck with him.
The suspect crashed his car along Hart Street (13900 block) and a foot-pursuit began. The suspect knew the area, since his parents lived there and tried desperately to get away from officers. He was trapped within a one block area and after a lengthy and extensive search by the Canine Units (K-9), our Gang Officers, Patrol Officers, Air-Ship (Helicopter) and some help from the community with calls about a prowler in the area, he was eventually located hiding to the rear of a residence along the 6800 block of Ranchito Avenue.
The weapon used in this and other Assaults in the area and in Mission Division was recovered and this bad-guy, who was on parole, is now headed back to prison. No one was seriously injured and a career criminal was removed from our streets. Lots of calls came to me while we were standing on the perimeter watching for the suspect to jump out and run.
I want to remind you that if you have Police in your area, especially with the helicopters and dogs being sent out for a search, please stay inside your homes, with the doors locked, lights on and remain inside until you hear the helicopters leave. While searching for an armed suspect, we had many residents trying to drive through our perimeter and really not aware that anything was going on. Our job is to keep you safe and get the bad guys before they get away. In this case, he did not get away and your patience during this 4-5 hour search was most appreciated.
This is only one of several outstanding arrests being made daily by your Police Department. The Basic Car officers for my Basic Car (9A19) today arrested a heroin addict with a slide punch (used to smash windows) and several GPS devices and other electronic devices taken from BFMV’s (Burglary from motor vehicles) in the area. Great arrest and Officer Amores does it again. This arrestee is likely responsible for most of, if not all of the rampage that happened in my reporting district 0926 from the 22nd to the 24th. Again, valuables being left in cars is attracting these bad-guys.
Just a day or so ago, more than $3,000 in lap-tops, Mp-3 and other electronic devices was taken from the rear of the Norm’s at Sherman Way and Woodman Avenue. These items were in plain sight and unattended. Please lock them in your trunk if you are not able to take them home and please remember to remove the charger from your cigarette-lighter. This is also a clue that other items may be in the console. Together we can make a difference.
Happy New Year from your Senior Lead Officer and Van Nuys Division!
Sincerely,
S.L.O. Ron Carter
Author Note:
DAILY NEWS:
12/24/10
VAN NUYS – A male motorist was shot to death early Friday morning as he drove in Van Nuys, a Los Angeles police officer said. The shooting occurred about 1:15 a.m. on Vanowen Street near Sepulveda Boulevard.
The victim was driving eastbound on Vanowen Street when someone fired at his car. He continued driving after being shot until his car crashed into a fence, the officer said.
Gunshot puts man in hospital on Thanksgiving Day
11/25/2010 – VAN NUYS – A man was shot and wounded in Van Nuys and was in stable condition at a hospital Thursday, a police sergeant said.
LAPD Radio: Listen to it Live.
About once or twice a day, an LAPD helicopter flies within sight of my house and starts to circle.
Curious about what might be going on, I went on the internet and found this site where one can monitor the LAPD Police Dispatcher in live broadcast.
According to EveryBlock, 275 crimes (about 9 a day), were reported within one four week period in May, in the area bounded by Magnolia on the south, the 405 on the west, Sunnyslope on the east, and Saticoy on the north.
A large amount of the crime is auto theft and home burglary. Omitted from the law breaking list are such wonders of our environment such as couch dumping, tagging, speeding, red light running, prostitution, vagrancy, undocumented workers, identity theft, and McDonalds.
Police investigate shooting at Delano Park in Van Nuys – ContraCostaTimes.com
Police investigate shooting at Delano Park in Van Nuys – ContraCostaTimes.com.
Armchair Psychology Nation.
Dad and Son Thanksgiving 2008
The revelation that someone we have known for 31 years, indeed admired, might have killed his wife, is something unbelievable, akin more to science fiction than reality.
In our national narrative, character is destiny, and we tend to believe that the right blend of inner morals and outer achievements will somehow pay off in a life of virtue, happiness and success.
The subject of this essay, who I will not name, possesses all the right stuff and more. He is loyal, brilliant, smart, savvy and funny.
What always amazed me is that he seemed to just have good luck bestowed upon his life. He was raised in a fine town, with good schools, in a Norman Rockwell place. His home was just behind the police station, next to the fire station and the boro hall.
In his youth, he played around with a group of friends and they often produced funny videos. They shot baskets on the hoop at the end of our street. They rode their bikes through the woods, across the lakes and reservoirs and ate pizza in the basement of our house.
He is an only son. And he is close to his mother, a wonderfully articulate and well-spoken woman who writes poems.
In his 38, almost 39 years, he has never been arrested. Never fought. He was not a drug user. I don’t even know if he drank liquor. He liked to work out, but he did it for recreation– not competition.
When he and his parents moved to Florida, he went to school down there on the West Coast of the Sunshine State and I heard it was one of those colleges where the children make up the curriculum: Liberal arts and liberal ideas.
If it were not for the ambitions of others, he might have ended up as a lifeguard on a beach or teaching English in Costa Rica.
After he moved to Los Angeles, he teamed up with a childhood friend, and together they collaborated to build careers producing television. They were well respected as a team not only because they created some hit TV, but because they knew how to work hard and get things done. And they were not ass holes to their staff. As so many in Hollywood are.
I heard he was not happily married. But who really is? On those occasions when we went to his house for Thanksgiving or other holidays, he was a gracious and kind host. His wife was warm and loving to us. She was strong, and at least six feet tall, nearly as tall as him.
There must have been times when he, like all of us, just wanted to run away, to get out of those traps and prisons of life: work, family, wife, money. He had a lot to take care of. And he bought, for some unfathomable reason, a very expensive home in a blandly rich ocean town. He said he moved away from LA to go somewhere safe to raise his kids. And he was doing what good men do-providing for the welfare of his family.
On many occasions, I saw his goodness and empathy for others.
- When my father became ill, and had trouble walking, the person of interest took the arm of my dad and helped him to the table.
- He showed his love to his friends when he helped them move, when he stuck up for them to brutal bosses, when he spoke at weddings and funerals for people I hold dear.
- He is someone who even the victim’s friends believe is a good person.
This is my armchair psychological analysis of someone who has more good than bad in him, whose life, up to this point, nearing the four decade milestone, has been mostly calm, nearly normal, and not indicating, by any stretch of the imagination, that he might be capable of murder.
But I trust in forensics and evidence, more than intuition and speculation. And whatever the facts of the case are, those will be the predominant and determining factor in how this man spends the rest of his life on Earth.
Dark Passage.
Dark Passage
Spring this year was thrilling. After a winter of rain, the sun came out and heated up a fragrant cornucopia of roses, orange blossoms and jasmine.
I went around the old neighborhoods of Los Angeles, with my house-hunting cousin. I rode up hills, and into scenic valleys, discovering streets and architecture decades old.
There was Passover and family, old relatives I had not seen for a long time, and the traditions of celebrating the rites of Spring and the end of slavery.
I broke two toes at the gym and have spent the last month limping around in a post-op shoe, unable to run or bike. People rush past me now because I move slowly. But I just accept this injury and know it will heal. And I can swim or lift weights as long as I don’t bend my left toes.
For a time I felt very alive in a good way, seeing this poisoned metropolis of deceit, decay and decadence in a virginal way, made anew by my willingness to just live here in the sun and enjoy it.
Then last week, as I was driving down LaBrea, my phone rang. Someone asked if I heard the news about a family friend missing in Mexico.
A day passed and the lost person became the dead person.
And the suspect was someone I loved, respected, admired and trusted.
He was a stand-up man. Someone who stood by my family- always.
He spoke at my father’s funeral service last April.
And if anyone were a rock of intellect, wit and character that you could depend on…it was he.
There was simply nothing in him but conversational gentleness and physical strength. A reserved, private, masculine, educated guy.
He was cynical and smart and apolitical. He used the word “idiots” a lot. To describe people in power: politicians, agents, lawyers.
If you needed someone to help you move, lift heavy furniture, work until all hours of the night-you called him.
I thought of him sometimes as a golden log floating down a green river. He didn’t try too hard, but somehow he managed to amass a career, a wife, a family, money, a big house.
He traveled to South America and Fiji while I walked around Van Nuys. He was an Executive Producer, whatever that BIG title means. And I was saving coins in a glass jar.
And we ate Thanksgiving at his home, and hugged the big, lovely, warm vivacious woman who was his wife.
He had it all. And it all had happened to him. He didn’t seem to go for it. It was bestowed upon him.
I admit I was jealous.
He had a special relationship that I did not with someone I should have.
On April 13th, it will be the one-year anniversary since my father died in a hospital in Santa Monica.
We, as a family had been progressing and healing and trying to heal the wound and gaping hole left by my father’s death.
It was a week of gore and death and the news media circled around like vultures.
And we went to meet the house-hunting cousin at Ginger Grass in Silver Lake this past Saturday night, just to get out of the house and enjoy ourselves.
After dinner, we stood on the sidewalk talking about the future and what we might do for work or investments.
We heard a strange sound, a woman screaming “No, no, no!”
People ran out of a parking lot. A man crouched behind a car.
Another man took off and ran up the hill, full speed, in the darkness.
We stood there, frozen.
“What was that?” someone asked.
“Gunshots?”
We slowly walked around corner.
A young woman was lying on the pavement in a pond of her own blood. People surrounded her.
“Why did he shoot me? Mom, mom, mom….”
Where the Baby was Shot Dead.
I took a bicycle and a camera over to the neighborhood where baby Andrew Garcia was murdered in his mother’s arms this past weekend.
There were cops parked in front of a frame house and a satellite truck crew from Univision hanging around. A helicopter had just circled the area, and women and children were walking home or back from school or errands.
A curbside shrine with balloons and burning religious candles marked the spot of the atrocity.
I expected some sort of a “slum” with garbage, graffiti, loud music, prostitutes and thugs. But what I found here was a decent place, of fairly well kept apartments, bordering an old and diligently tended street of small pre-war homes with green lawns, picket fences, front porches and flowers.
Maybe it was my projection, but parents seemed to guard their children more closely, and there was an air of mourning on the block, written on the faces of the living.
We want, so fervently, to believe that whomever died, was somehow the victim of gangs or bad parents, because this frees us from the moral responsibility of correcting or helping to change the ghastly culture of gun violence which makes urban life in America uniquely barbaric. No knife or rope could have shattered through the windshield glass and robbed a four-month old infant of 85 or 90 years of life.
All the official, educational and religious cornerstones of what we believe make up a civic and moral neighborhood are present in this district. Up the street are several churches, and a bible bookstore. The LAPD, the Municipal Building, the Superior Court, the Library are just blocks away.
Just yesterday, some of us observed a Day of Atonement, and accounted for our sins. Today, I came and recorded, on camera and in my heart, and later wrote about, the ultimate sin.
LA’s Rape Cases.
The NY Times columnist Nicholas D. Kristof writes disturbingly about how rape and prosecuting rapists is still constrained by the slowness of evidence gathering and testing:
“A 43-year-old legal secretary was raped repeatedly in her home in Los Angeles as her son slept in another room. The attacker forced the woman to clean herself in an attempt to destroy the evidence.
Tim Marcia, the detective on the case, thought this meant that the perpetrator was a habitual offender who would strike again. Mr. Marcia rushed the rape kit to the crime lab but was told to expect a delay of more than one year.
So Mr. Marcia personally drove the kit 350 miles to deliver it to the state lab in Sacramento. Even there, the backlog resulted in a four-month delay — but then it produced a “cold hit,” a match in a database of the DNA of previous offenders.
Yet in the months while the rape kit sat on a shelf, the suspect had allegedly struck twice more. Police said he broke into the homes of a pregnant woman and a 17-year-old girl, sexually assaulting each of them.
“The criminal justice system is still ill equipped to deal with rape and not that good at moving rape cases forward,” notes Sarah Tofte, who just wrote a devastating report for Human Rights Watch about the rape-kit backlog. The report found that in Los Angeles County, there were at last count 12,669 rape kits sitting in police storage facilities. More than 450 of these kits had sat around for more than 10 years, and in many cases, the statute of limitations had expired. “
Japanese Police Station.
One of the observations I’ve made in living in Los Angeles for the last fifteen years, is the lack of a police presence. Yes, crime is supposedly coming down, and Chief Bratton is touting statistics that murders are falling to 1950s levels. But I will not walk around alone in my neighborhood at night. Rapes, vandalism, road rage, tagging…this city is still a very menacing metropolis.
Part of the problem is that Los Angeles is so spread out. Policing by car became the “futuristic” strategy in this city 75 years ago. But how can 10,000 cops patrol over 400 square miles of LA effectively? They cannot. In order to make people feel safe, and to discourage criminal behavior, it is necessary to make the police a part of the community in a socialized setting.
That is why I look to the Japanese model of clearly visible police stations, which are so rare in Los Angeles. In our city, the LAPD is hidden away in fortresses, or in the case of Van Nuys, way back in a 1960s “pedestrian mall”. Why can’t the LAPD build these type of small Japanese police stations and drop them into various dense neighborhoods such as MacArthur Park, Hollywood, Van Nuys, and North Hollywood?
These buildings could be designed by local LA architects and provide employment to the many who are out of work. Let’s start with 25 cool LAPD stations like the one in Shibuya, Japan.
Jogger Fends off Assailant in Van Nuys Sex Attack
Jogger fends off assailant in Van Nuys sex attack
By Sue Doyle, Staff Writer
Reprinted from the Contra Costa Times
Posted: 03/19/2009 08:30:11 PM PDT
Updated: 03/20/2009 12:57:56 AM PDT
This is a police sketch of the man who sexually assaulted a 32-year-old woman early Wednesday morning in Van Nuys. He is described as Latino and in his late 20s to mid-30s. He stands about 5 feet, 6 inches tall and has a thin build. He wore a tan baseball cap and navy blue hooded sweat shirt.
VAN NUYS — A 32-year-old woman was sexually assaulted during an early morning run by a man who shoved her into the bushes and groped her before she fought him off, police said Thursday.
Los Angeles police are searching for the clean-shaven man who attacked the jogger at 5:45 a.m. Wednesday in the 6200 block of Blucher Avenue, a residential street next to the Sepulveda Dam Recreation Area.
Police are asking for the public’s help to identify the man, described as Latino and in his late 20s to mid-30s. He stands about 5 feet, 6 inches tall and has a thin build. He wore a tan baseball cap and navy blue hooded sweat shirt.
The assault is the first of its kind in the area in the past year, said Detective Dennis Derr of the Los Angeles Police Department. “We don’t know if it’s a one-time occurrence, a random occurrence or the beginning of a series of occurrences,” Derr said.
The man fled after the woman punched him in the groin. She ran home and called 911. She was treated at a nearby emergency room for injuries, including a kick to her side. She was later released.
Derr said the woman was running on the sidewalk when she spotted the man standing across the street. He crossed the street and began running next to her and then attacked her.
He grabbed her bottom, shoved her down in the bushes and pinned her with his leg.
After being kicked and punched by the woman, the attacker ran south down Blucher Avenue, Derr
Advertisement
said.
“When he pushed her down in the bushes, it was right in full view of many houses, in the middle of a residential neighborhood,” Derr said. “But because it was so early in the morning, it didn’t catch anyone’s attention.”
Anyone with information on the assault can call Derr at 818-374-1926.
Van Nuys Burglar Caught on Tape.
Police need help in apprehending a suspect who was caught on tape burglarizing an apartment building near Sherman Way and Woodley in Van Nuys:
Man Wounded in Van Nuys drive-by.
14631 Blythe St. Van Nuys, CA
Man wounded in Van Nuys drive-by shooting
Daily News wire services
Article Launched: 11/09/2008 12:28:23 PM PST
VAN NUYS – A man was wounded in a shooting in Van Nuys early this morning in an apparent gang-related hit, Los Angeles police said.
The man was standing at or near 14631 Blythe St. at about 2:45 a.m., said spokesperson Stacy Ball of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Van Nuys Station.
A car pulled up in front of the man and someone inside yelled a gang slur and then shot him, according to Officer Norma Eisenman of the LAPD.
The man, whose name was withheld, was in stable condition, Eisenman said.
Recent Comments.