Los Angeles under Mayor Karen Bass continues to be a utopia — for thieves and other criminals.
Interestingly, while overall property crime and burglary incidents have been reported as decreasing, targeted break-ins at upscale residences — especially in affluent neighborhoods and celebrity enclaves — have increased. This uptick has been especially concerning to communities in the San Fernando Valley area.
There was a serious “Wild West” vibe to several incidents that occurred over the weekend.
One of the break-ins occurred on Sunday, Aug. 3 at 11 p.m. in Studio City. A homeowner, alerted by alarms, grabbed his gun and went downstairs, where he encountered a burglar.The homeowner fired multiple times at the suspect, who then ran outside to a waiting getaway car with a second suspect and escaped, police said.Police searched the area for a blood trail but did not find any evidence that the suspect was hit.A few hours later, at 2:20 a.m., four suspects broke into a home in the 4000 block of Longridge Avenue in Sherman Oaks.The house was unoccupied at the time, but security alarms and cameras detected the suspects inside, alerting the homeowner to call police. The suspects were gone by the time police arrived.
This trend began in 2024 and has noticeably increased over the summer. Several celebrity homes have been hit already.
And now TMZ reports that Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson’s home in the Valley was among the megamansions targeted in July. This time, TMZ says, “thieves” were spotted smashing through glass to access the couple’s guest house on the $26 million property. And they are not the only A-listers who have reported incidents to the LAPD.In May, an L.A. Clippers dribbler was robbed. In June, “Kingdom” and “Westworld” actor Jonathan Tucker interrupted a daylight home invasion in Hancock Park, carrying a woman and her two small children to safety.The Los Angeles Police Department did not have any information available on the rash of burglaries that have led to panic across the city, and department officials have not reported any arrests. The department’s online Citywide Crime Statistics Reporting was not available Monday with all links to the city’s reported crimes broken, including the number of burglaries.Celebrities like Goldie Hawn said the uptick in crime is prompting her to consider a move out of Los Angeles, telling Kelly Ripa on her podcast that her home was robbed twice and that she now travels everywhere with security.
Attention to the increase in robberies associated with high-end residential homes began in earnest after the fatal shooting of a longtime, award-winning “American Idol” music supervisor and her husband in their multi-million-dollar home in Encino this July.
In a statement provided to ABC7 on Tuesday afternoon, a spokesperson for the ABC singing competition TV series confirmed the deaths of Robin Kaye and her husband, Thomas Deluca….Officers responded to a request for a welfare check at the home on White Oak Avenue around 2:30 p.m. Monday, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. That’s when they found the two victims with multiple gunshot wounds.The suspect was identified as 22-year-old Raymond Boodarian of Reseda. Detectives believe he has no relationship to the victims. He was allegedly burglarizing the residence while the couple came home, and he shot and killed them during a struggle.
I have been covering Southern California “crime tourism” for quite some time, and it appears many of these burglaries may also involve South American organized crime gangs. The situation is so disturbing to area residents that San Fernando Valley community leaders gathered together to present some demands to authorities.
The incident is just the latest in a string of attempted burglaries and other crimes in affluent neighborhoods of the San Fernando Valley. The issue has become so frightening to residents that Encino community leaders recently presented a list of demands to authorities in a meeting.More than 200 residents came out to the meeting, which took place just weeks after an “American Idol” executive and her husband were shot dead in their home with their own gun by an intruder, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman claims.Last week, LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said he planned to increase patrols in the area. He also claimed that those Encino crimes were likely connected to an organized crime crew from South America.
Meanwhile, Bass says police in her city are “demoralized“.
Bass expects to make a decision on a new LAPD chief in early fall and has spent the last few months meeting with community members and LAPD’s rank-and-file.”We’re hearing a police department where the officers are demoralized,” Bass said. “They feel better support from the public, but they think there’s a lot of things internal to the way the department runs that is demoralizing to them.
It sounds as if the police aren’t the only ones.
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