Police on Thursday sought the public’s help in identifying suspects responsible for three distraction-style burglaries in West Los Angeles.
The first happened about 11:20 a.m. on July 16, when a suspect knocked on the door of a home in the 500 block of 26th Street and told a victim that he was doing construction work behind the residence and some debris may have gotten into the home’s back yard, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
After the suspect volunteered to help clean up the yard, the victim led the suspect to the yard, where the suspect placed two phone calls, police said.
Once the suspect left, the victim realized her dresser had been ransacked and her property was missing, police reported.
Detectives believe an accomplice entered the home through the front door when the first suspect called from the back yard, police said.
The first suspect was described as 30-35 years old, 5 feet 8 inches tall, about 165 pounds with brown hair and eyes. He wore a black shirt, blue jeans and black tennis shoes and drove in a white, full-sized truck, police said.
A similar crime happened about 10:30 a.m. on July 17, when a suspect rang the doorbell of a home in the 1700 block of Corinth Avenue and told the victim he needed to enter her yard to cut trees overhanging from a neighbor’s property, according to the LAPD.
“While the victim and the suspect went to the back yard, a second suspect entered the home through a back door and removed the victim’s property,” police said. “The first suspect left the victim’s home on foot.”
The first suspect in that case was described as about 40 years old, 5 feet 6 inches tall, around 190 pounds with dark hair and eyes. He wore a gray shirt.
The third burglary happened about 5 p.m. on July 28 in the 3000 block of Cardiff Avenue, where a suspect approached a victim’s home and said he was from the phone company and needed to enter the back yard to cut tree branches growing near phone lines, police said.
“While the suspect was in the back yard, a second suspect entered (the victim’s) home through the front door and removed (her) property,” according to the LAPD.
The suspect who first approached the home was described as approximately 30 years old, 5 feet 3 inches tall, about 160 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. He was wearing a light blue uniform, police said.
Anyone with information about any of these or similar crimes was urged to call burglary detectives at the LAPD’s West Los Angeles Station at (310) 444- 1522 or (31) 444-1524. After-hours calls can be directed to (877) LAPD-24-7 and anonymous tips can be supplied by calling Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-TIPS.