Full Notification

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department announced recently the dismantlement of a substantial bicycle theft burglary ring, known to have committed crimes in Oak Park, Westlake Village, Agoura, Victorville, Fountain Valley, Temecula, Murrieta, Santa Monica, Irvine and Santa Clarita.

Although not mentioned above by LASD, Topanga Area has experienced a few similar burglaries in recent months within the divisional boundaries. Although not necessarily linked, we would like to share the method in which these particular burglars took the bicycles so that the residents of our communities will be aware and can better protect themselves.

The burglars would identify their prospective targets from persons selling expensive bicycles on Craigslist. The suspects would make contact with the sellers by using a fictitious name and email account. After establishing dialogue about the bicycles with the sellers, the suspects would learn enough information to identify the residential location where the bicycles were being kept. Much of this information was obtained by searching various internet sites such as Facebook and White Pages Online.

The suspects would then drive to the targeted residences and burglarize them between 1:00 am and 4:00 am, often times when the victims were asleep in their homes. Entry into the homes was made via garage door openers, which were left inside of accessible cars or by cutting the garage door at the top and using a makeshift tool to pull the garage door opener cord, detaching the opener from the door and allowing the door to be easily rolled up. Although many of the bikes were taken from the garages, often times the suspects would enter the living areas of the residence, to locate and steal the property.

After stealing the bikes, many valued between 5 and 15 thousand dollars, the suspects would return to Los Angeles and sell them to a bike shop owner.

(For further information please see the LASD Santa Clarita Station's Nixle Message: http://nixle.com/alert/4824638/ )

*It is NOT a good idea to leave a garage door opener in “plain view” inside of vehicles parked in driveways.

*If your vehicle has a built in garage door opener, it is a good idea to lock the garage door opener device from the wall unit inside of your garage each night or when not in use.

*Always be cautious when selling items on Craigslist or any other site over the internet.

*Never give out identifying information to potential buyers over the phone or by email. It is best to meet at a public location, away from your residence, to sell your items.

*Install motion sensor lights over your garage door and driveway.

*Try to keep expensive items in your garage hidden from sight of passers-by when your garage door is open.