Police are urging the public in West Los Angeles to stay vigilant as detectives hunt for an apparent organized burglary crew that uses Wi-Fi jammers and other sophisticated techniques to ransack high-end valuables from homes across numerous upscale neighborhoods.
The warning from the Los Angeles Police Department, which has sent out a community alert to neighborhoods including Bel Air, Holmby Hills and Pacific Palisades, comes as a nanny reportedly was held at gunpoint during a home invasion in nearby Sherman Oaks early last week.
“In our area, the south valley, there are home invasions and burglaries for the high-end and even the regular homes almost every single night,” Matt Epstein, the president of the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association, told Fox News Digital.
“I have lived in Sherman Oaks all my life, 66 years, and what’s happened in the city of Los Angeles the last 10 years has been absolutely horrible,” he added. “This is something that is fixable. Our current district attorney is a moron, he will not prosecute anyone if he continues to let people go.”
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In the Sherman Oaks incident, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office says three suspects “allegedly stole thousands of dollars in luxury handbags and jewelry” after breaking into a home and then “fled in a vehicle and drove to the city of Compton,” where they allegedly broke into homes to hide from police.
The three suspects, all between the ages of 21 and 24, were eventually arrested and face bail ranging from $225,000 to $2 million on home invasion robbery and residential burglary charges.
“Residential home invasions are deeply disturbing crimes that impact not only the victims, but our entire community,” District Attorney George Gascón said in a statement. “Our homes are meant to be sanctuaries – a place where we should feel safe and secure. I want to assure the community that our office is fully committed to holding the perpetrators accountable and is working closely with law enforcement to bring justice to the victims.”
“We will continue to utilize resources to address residential burglaries in Encino, West Los Angeles and any other Los Angeles neighborhood being targeted by criminals,” added LAPD interim Chief Dominic Choi. “While arresting these individuals is a step in the right direction, our work is not done.”
The LAPD is telling residents in West Los Angeles that the string of home burglaries affecting their communities appear to be the work of a crew of two to four unidentified and masked males who often target homes that look unoccupied, the Santa Monica Mirror reports.
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The newspaper, citing the community alert sent out to residents, says the suspects often use ladders or climb up drain pipes to access second-story master bedrooms of homes before ransacking them for valuables, including jewelry, watches, high-end purses and cash.
The suspects reportedly are carrying Wi-Fi jammers to disrupt home security cameras and are using handheld short-range radios to communicate with getaway vehicles that whisk them away from the crime scenes.
Locals are now being told to report any suspicious activity as police are recommending they install sliding glass doors with alarms and bolt down and equip their safes with GPS tracking devices, according to the Santa Monica Mirror.
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Bill Daly, a former FBI investigator, told Fox News Digital that property owners also should take steps such as keeping their lights and TVs on and drawing their curtains a bit to make it “seem like people are busy and active in the home” even if they are away.
“If you have an extra vehicle, make sure that it is visible, don’t leave it in the garage, leave it outside so people might see that there’s potentially somebody in and around the home,” he added.
LAPD detectives working on the West Los Angeles home burglary cases did not respond to requests for comment from Fox News Digital.
Last week, police in Los Angeles arrested one suspect after a home burglary attempt in the West Los Angeles neighborhood of Cheviot Hills. That individual, identified as 43-year-old Jose Agarde Lopez who had previously been arrested 11 times for burglary, entered the property using a key that was inside a lock box for construction crews, KABC reports, citing authorities.
The burglaries also come as more than a dozen neighboring businesses in the Los Angeles Fashion District were hit two weekends ago by burglars who broke into one and then knocked holes through walls to get to the others, the report added.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said in a public statement that it launched “a new hotline specifically for residential burglary cases” where “community members who have information about residential burglaries are encouraged to share their tips and leads.”
“This hotline will serve as a crucial tool in gathering information, aiding investigations, and preventing future crimes,” the office said. “The information collected will be directed to the appropriate law enforcement agencies for investigation and follow-up.”
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