SHERIFF’S BLOTTER


HOW IT’S DONE— In this March 24 heist at Westlake Village Costco (story in Blotter), the Los Angeles County Sheriff says the people at left followed a female victim to the store’s clothing section where suspects one and two began to distract her. Suspect four reached into the victim’s purse, stole her cellphone, and handed it to suspect three.

HOW IT’S DONE— In this March 24 heist at Westlake Village Costco (story in Blotter), the Los Angeles County Sheriff says the people at left followed a female victim to the store’s clothing section where suspects one and two began to distract her. Suspect four reached into the victim’s purse, stole her cellphone, and handed it to suspect three.

Agoura Hills

Days after finding a cement block behind a tire of one of their cars and dismissing it as a teenage prank, a couple on Dargan Street realized there was a crime afoot. On March 21, the wife’s Honda Prius wouldn’t start. They called for a tow and were informed by the driver that the catalytic converter, valued at $4,000, was missing. The husband told authorities he found the cement block on March 20 but disposed of it, tossing away any evidence that might shed light on the thief. There was no security video.

A woman on Larboard Lane had more than $72,000 withdrawn from her bank accounts—and she says she didn’t do it. The woman told authorities there were three withdrawals from her Citibank accounts, two totaling $55,351.59 from savings and one for $17,000 from checking. The withdrawals, which happened between March 4 and 8, showed up in text messages on the woman’s cellphone. She said she doesn’t know who made the transactions.

Calabasas

A Coach bag and an HP laptop computer were among items stolen March 13 from a locked car parked at the Juan Bautista de Anza East Trailhead on Calabasas Road. The victim said she returned from a hike to find the driver’s door lock damaged and her $100 bag and $800 computer missing. Also taken were $100 Ray-Ban sunglasses and a $50 Hydro Flask beverage holder. There is no tracking device on the computer.

Westlake Village

Despite multiple cameras in the area, none were reportedly working when a shopper said her $900 iPhone was stolen from her cart March 24 at Costco on Lindero Canyon Road. The victim told authorities she placed the device on the top rack of the cart while shopping for clothes. She went to call her brother but discovered the phone was gone. A Costco employee called her number, but the woman’s phone had already been turned off. The victim contacted her bank and learned that someone already tried to use a digital debit card stored on the phone at a Best Buy store in Thousand Oaks. That transaction was declined. (See photos above.)

In a brazen theft indicative of the times, a man walked out of the Target store on Russell Ranch Road with thousands of dollars’ worth of merchandise and dared store personnel to call the cops. Security video from the March 16 theft shows a Black man, 25 to 35, with a beard and wearing gray sweatpants and a jacket with white patches, loading bottles of alcohol and other large items into a shopping cart. He then walks past the registers and as he’s heading for the exit is confronted by an employee who asks whether he paid for the items. “Nah,” the thief replies. “I’m good. Call the police. You know what this is.” The man puts the merchandise in a silver car, gets in and then the car drives off. The loss was estimated at almost $3,900.