Theft From Vehicles Move Toward Griffith Park
Posted by Daniel Antolin on May 7, 2011 - 10:09:51 PM
The front of Griffith Park. Photo courtesy of wikipedia.com
LOS FELIZ—On Saturday, May 7, police are warning individuals visiting the Griffith Park area, particularly SUV owners, about many vehicle break-ins that they have reported as having recently taken place at nearby tourist destinations.
These vehicle break-ins are being reported by police in addition to 20 thefts from vehicles that they reported as having occurred in Los Feliz since April 7.
LAPD Northeast reported on May 2 that vehicles had been broken into in the parking lots of Griffith Park and the Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens since reporting that four vehicles had been broken into in the parking lot of the Griffith Observatory on April 27.
Police report that many incidents at the three tourist destinations have included SUVs being broken into in order to remove third row seats. In the four Griffith Observatory incidents, vehicles' windows were smashed in order to take purses, police further report.
Gina Chovan, the LAPD Northeast senior lead officer handling the case, did not return Canyon News's request for further information at press time.
Before leaving their vehicles in the parking lots of these tourist locations, visitors are being advised to lock their doors and hide valuable items out of plain sight. This includes so-called "hot items" such as MP3 players, laptops and GPS systems.
SUV owners are being advised by police to consider removing their third row seats from their vehicles before visiting these locations if they will not be used.
Motorists parking near these locations can take other precautions to avoid having their vehicles become targets of break-ins.
Griffith Park Parking lot. Photo by Kibiwot Limo
"Never park your vehicle and place items in the trunk where others are watching," shows a police notification meant for members and visitors of the community. "As soon as you walk away, your vehicle may be broken into."
Anyone with any information regarding these thefts from vehicles reported by police can call the LAPD Northeast Front Desk at 213-485-2563 or Chovan at 213-793-0713.
Another theft from a vehicle was reported by police as having taken place on April 27 at 8:45 p.m. on the 4300 block of Fountain Avenue, which is within a three to five-mile radius of the three destination locations. With the most recent theft from a vehicle in the area reported by police as having take place at the 2700 block of North Vermont Avenue on May 1 at 8:25 a.m., which is also nearby.
An earlier theft from a vehicle was reported by police as having taken place at this same location on April 23 at 6:45 a.m.
In total, 20 thefts from vehicles were reported by police as having taken place in Los Feliz within a 10-mile radius of the three tourist destinations since April 7. During this time period, thefts from vehicles were reported by police as having taken place twice on the 2100 block of Hyperion Avenue, the 4600 and 4700 blocks of Finley Avenue and the 4800 and 4900 blocks of Griffith Park Drive.
Griffith Park area map courtesy of laparks.org.
Two separate thefts from vehicles were reported by police as having taken place on April 13 at 8 p.m., the same date and time, a mile away from one another. One was reported by police as having taken place at Hillhurst and Melbourne avenues and the other on the 2700 block of Amesbury Road.
All but two of the 20 Los Feliz thefts from vehicles were reported by police as having taken place during the work week before 9 a.m. and after 5 p.m. LAPD Northeast protects and serves the neighborhoods of Loz Feliz, Atwater Village, Cypress Park, Eagle Rock, East Hollywood, Echo Park, Elysian Park, Elysian Valley, Franklin Hills, Garvanza, Glassell Park, Highland Park, Los Feliz, Mount Washington, Silver Lake and Solano Canyon.
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Serving Bel Air, Benedict Canyon, Beverly Hills. Brentwood, Laurel Canyon, Los Feliz, Malibu, Pacific Palisades, Melrose, Santa Monica, Sherman Oaks, Studio City, Topanga, Canyon, Westwood & Hollywood Hills.
