Crime Blotter: Burglary, Purse Snatching and Identity Theft

Burglary

Approximately 7:47 p.m. on Nov. 26, officers responded to the Co-Opportunity store located at the 1500 block of Broadway Avenue. When they arrived they talked to the store manager who told them that he believed that there was someone in the store that was about to steal groceries. He said that he saw the subject place groceries into paper bags inside his shopping cart. He asked the officers to wait outside of the store to catch the person as he came out. The subject was seen earlier pushing a cart of groceries around the store. Prior to leaving the store, the subject paid for a couple of items not in his cart, then returned to his cart and walked out without paying for the items in it. When the officers stopped him he sighed and told the officers that he would pay for the items or return them. Officers determined that the subject was also wanted for the same type of theft at the same store on Nov. 18. The loss from the latest incident was valued at $466 according to the store manager.

Identity Theft

At approximately 4:45 p.m. officers responded to the Apple Store on Third Street Prominade regarding a suspect being detained for possession of fraudulent credit cards. A sales representative contacted their loss prevention agent and told him that a customer was attempting to purchase two 16-gig  iPhone 5S that are valued at $649 each. The sales representative gave the loss prevention agent the California driver’s license and the Visa card that the suspect had given to her. The loss prevention agent was able to look at the items and note that they were counterfeit. The subject instead, decided to pay for the items with cash. When the subject left the store, he was detained by the loss prevention agent who called the police. The officer arrived and also determined that the driver’s license and two credit cards that the subject had on him were counterfeit and he was arrested.

Purse Snatching

At approximately 6 p.m. on Nov. 30, officers responded to the area of Seventh Street and Wilshire Boulevard in response to a purse snatch robbery that had just occurred. The victim was walking south out of the alley east of Sixth Street and onto Wilshire Boulevard when the subject asked her for a cigarette. As the victim looked in her purse for the cigarette, the subject snatched her purse off her shoulder. The subject walked away and the victim watched as he searched through the purse, putting items from the purse into his pocket. When the victim ran after him demanding her purse back, the subject raised his fist in a striking motion, causing the victim to stop. He then handed back the purse to the victim.

Responding officers, working off of a description given to them by the victim, were able to locate the subject in the 1300 block of 14th Street. He spontaneously told the officers that he did not have the woman’s purse. The victim was taken to the area where the suspect was being detained and she positively identified him as the person that stole her purse.

Burglary

At approximately 2 p.m. on Nov. 30, officers responded to the 2400 block of 33rd Street regarding a burglary that had just occurred. As the officers were responding they noticed a group of people in the 2400 block of 33rd St detaining what they believed to be the burglary suspect. They handcuffed the suspect and talked to the victim. The victim told the officers that he had just come home from the movie theater with his two sons when he found the subject inside of his house. He also noticed that his laptop was missing from a table in his house. He confronted the subject and the subject pushed past him and outside the house. The victim gave chase and was able to take the victim to the ground; however, the victim was able to get up, and continued to run. The victim again gave chase, yelling for help. Two other men helped grab the suspect and hold him until the police arrived. The suspect was found to have other property belonging to the victim on him.

Receiving Stolen Property

At approximately 12:48 p.m. Nov. 30, officers were sent to assist a Downtown Services Officer that had contacted a bicyclist in the 1600 block of Fifth St. The DSO contacted the bicyclist because he was looking at a piece of clothing on the ground. When the DSO inquired as to what the cyclist was doing he commented on the pants being on ground being a nice pair of pants. The DSO noticed that the bicycle looked new and inquired as to how the cyclist got it. He told the DSO that it was given to him as a gift. During further conversation the cyclist changed his story and told the DSO that he paid $125 for the bike. The DSO conducted a check of the serial number of the bike and found that it was stolen. The officer arrested the cyclist for possession of stolen property.