At Least a Dozen Cars Burglarized on WeHo’s Westside Last Night

ADVERTISEMENT
(Photo by ANG News)

Another rash of car burglaries occurred in and near West Hollywood last night, with Sheriff’s deputies responding around 3 a.m. to at least a dozen in the West Hollywood West neighborhood and Beverly Hills police responding to roughly half a dozen in their jurisdiction.

The West Hollywood burglaries occurred within a block north and south of Santa Monica Boulevard between Almont Drive on the west and San Vicente Boulevard on the east.

A woman on the scene told a photographer for ANG News that she and her friends had just arrived from Florida and all of their luggage had been stolen. A man present during the deputies’ investigation said his business computer, camera equipment and luxury bags, which he valued at thousands of dollars, were all stolen.

It’s unclear if the West Hollywood and Beverly Hills vehicle burglaries crimes are connected. However, law-enforcement officers reported striking similarities. For example, all vehicles had the same points of entry, with the burglars shattering the rear passenger side windows of the victims’ vehicles. No description of the suspect or suspects currently is available.

Detectives suspect outside gangs may behind many of the break-ins in Greater Los Angeles, which often are concentrated in a particular area. For example, between Aug. 27 and Sept. 2, there were 33 vehicle break-ins in West Hollywood. Fifteen of them occurred during the late evening hours of Aug. 31 and into the early morning hours of Sept. 1. All of those incidents were window smashes targeting property left visible inside the vehicles on Melrose between Doheny Drive and Robertson Boulevard.

That the surge in vehicle break-ins is not an issue specific to West Hollywood is obvious from a report by the L.A. Downtown News in July that the L.A. Police Department’s Central Division, which covers most of downtown Los Angeles, said there were 893 vehicle break-ins in that area from Jan. 1 through July 14. That’s a 29.4% increase over the 690 reported for the same time in 2017.

ADVERTISEMENT

The Sheriff’s Station has issued numerous warning that residents and visitors should not leave anything visible inside their cars and should actually remove anything of value. Even a pair of sunglasses or a sweatshirt on a back seat can prompt some burglars to break into a car.


While you’re here…

… we have a favor to ask. In the six years since we first launched WEHOville.com our readership has grown rapidly, validating our belief that the residents of West Hollywood care deeply about this city. What hasn’t grown so rapidly is advertising revenue, which today is a challenge for all news media. That makes it hard to sustain the unbiased coverage we provide of what is really going on, and that makes it hard for us to assemble the resources  to dig deeper into other stories that affect the lives of those who call West Hollywood home.

So you can see why we need your help. Financial support from our readers means our coverage will never be biased by the interests of a wealthy owner or politician. It means WEHOville will always be able to speak truth to power by shining a bright journalistic light on what is really happening in our city.

The best way for you to support delivery of the news you want and need is by subscribing to WEHOville, which means you’ll get a daily alert each morning to all stories published in the previous 24 hours. There are a variety of subscription options, which you can find by CLICKING BELOW. And if you subscribe, we will add you to our growing list of community members who support honest and objective reporting about our amazing city.

Thanks for your support!

0 0 votes
Article Rating
ADVERTISEMENT

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

10 Comments
Newest
Oldest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
lily soleil
lily soleil
6 years ago

i would love a car free west hollywood, how wonderful if we could turn every street into walkway and pathways, which engender unity and open conversation. could imagine gardens and orchards of lush beauty with open air seating and strolling musicians, arts and crafts stands to enrich our children. the city must live to meet it’s creative city moniker, and open themselves to a new way of thinking and planning. i actually believe that this new way of living will change the hearts and minds of those poor people who feel they need to steal and destroy property. they are… Read more »

Cy Husain
6 years ago

With all the stories posted about people having items stolen that they left in their cars, I’m starting to feel special about owning a scooter. 🛵 On more than a few nights I left my black Antifa hoodie jacket, face bandanna, sap gloves, mirrored sunglasses and, steel towed boots all in the basket of my scooter. Every morning I found all my stuff there completely untouched. 🙂 Now if the rest of the Great City of West Hollywood would embrace my enthusiasm for Environmentally Friendly Scooters along with Social/Political Activism, I would be willing to bet the burglary problems would… Read more »

RobbyDobby
RobbyDobby
6 years ago

I had a pair of prescription glasses stolen out of my car once. You can’t leave even a paperclip visible or some crook will steal it…

JimDire
JimDire
6 years ago

If you leave ANYTHING visible inside a locked car it will be burglarized.

Cy Husain
6 years ago

In the past 2 years no one has done anything to my parked scooter! Maybe all these people with cars should consider replacing them with scooters to avoid all the problems. 🛵 What worries me are the hate crimes being committed by narcissist car owners against environmentally friendly scooters in Santa Monica and beverly hells. 😢 The scooters being vandalized were rentals as opposed to mine which is privately owned and I’m not finding reports of “privately owned” scooters getting vandalized at the rate “privately owned” automobiles are, so making the switch to a scooter might still be safe. The… Read more »

Careless & Foolish
Careless & Foolish
6 years ago
Reply to  Cy Husain

It’s not correct to call these “hate crimes” as you frequently remark about every issue. It seems more opportunistic behavior capitalizing on the careless and foolish.

Cy Husain
6 years ago

What do you expect when reactionary capitalists give me so much “careless and foolish” easy material to use against them after their “opportunistic behavior” continues to destroy the lives of many violently oppressed people? I’m NOT sorry! ✊🏾

Mike
Mike
6 years ago

This is, or should be, a no-brainer. Never, ever leave your valuables in your car for some low-life to see them and then steal them. No matter where you are in the greater L.A. area.

Joshua88
Joshua88
6 years ago

A rash.

Joshua88
Joshua88
6 years ago

Wow.