Home Invasion Robbery, Three Arrested

No random home invasion robbery. Three arrested. Gun and loot recovered. 

It started with a sound at a side window around 9AM in the 8100 block of Wakefield Avenue in Panorama City.  But no one was there when a young woman, home alone with her baby, awoke to check.  She got a little scared, then saw a man pacing in the front yard.  She asked through a window what the man wanted and he said he was looking for someone called Omar.

Then, all of a sudden, a noise from a back window of the house.  A dresser is pushed over and two masked men are standing in the bedroom demanding money.  One man, armed with a gun, tells her he knows she has money and he wants it.  She pleads with him not to hurt her because she has the baby, but the man is insistent and threatens the woman.

Meanwhile, the police are on their way because the victim called 9-1-1 after the suspicious man at the front door. 

The victim shows the robbers where some money is hidden from a recent court settlement.  Then there’s a knock at the door, and the lead robber goes to answer it.

“I guess he thought it was his lookout in the front yard,” said Lt. Paul Vernon, commanding officer of the Mission Detective Division.  “The masked robber got a surprise when it was the uniformed LAPD officer who had answered the 9-1-1 call.”

The patrol officers had already detained the man in the front yard, thinking he was the full reason for the call to police.  The officer knocked on the door to speak to the caller, and the officer was surprised when a masked man opened the door.

The robber slammed the door on the officer and ran.  “We’re lucky there wasn’t a shooting right there, given this man was armed,” Lt. Vernon explained.  “The robber and his partner jumped out a back window, and the chase was on.”

The patrol officer put out a back up, and responding officers and the police helicopter tracked the two robbers through yards all the way to the CVS store at Van Nuys Boulevard and Roscoe Boulevard, where both suspects gave up.

Detectives later found the would-be loot, thousands of dollars in cash, still in the victim’s home, abandoned in the robbers’ haste to get away.  A search by a canine and his partner located the gun inside the victim’s closet, apparently tossed there to keep from being caught with a gun.

Neither the victim nor her baby was injured.  The lead robber appeared to be a hardened gang member with tattoos.  His two accomplices were young, with not too much in the way of criminal histories.  “Given what they were up to, young or not, they knew this was a serious crime and wrong,” Lt. Vernon added.  “We’ll see how much they give up when detectives talk to them.  It’s clear there was some kind of inside information at work here.  This was no random robbery.”

All three suspects were booked for armed robbery.

Picture is of .22 cal pistol found by K9.

Suspect Arrested for Sexual Battery on 16-yr old Girl on Van Nuys Metro Bus

A 16- year old San Fernando Valley girl reported that on three occasions between August 27, 2013 through September 30, 2013 the same man had sexually battered her while she was riding the Metro bus in the Van Nuys area.

The victim did not report the first two assaults, since she believed she would never see the suspect again. After the third assault, the victim took a picture of the suspect after he exited the bus and reported it to Sheriff’s Transit Services Bureau deputies. (Photo attached)

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Special Victims Bureau detectives were told by the victim that the three assaults occurred on Metro bus line #761, in the vicinity of Van Nuys Blvd/Vanowen St., and Van Nuys Blvd/Burbank Blvd. All three assaults occurred between 1PM and 3PM, one on a Monday, and two on Tuesdays.

The victim said the suspect would board the bus, sit next to her, cover himself in part with a sweater and then touch her.

The suspect in these crimes was identified after Sheriff’s Special Victims Bureau detectives distributed a crime bulletin using the picture taken by the victim. On October 8, 2013, officers from the Los Angeles Police Department – Van Nuys Division Bike Team, working with the Sheriff’s Special Victims Bureau lead investigator, located and detained 59-year old Suspect Majdeddin Nahvi, a transient person who listed his residence as Canoga Park. He was later identified by the victim.

The suspect was booked on two misdemeanor counts of Sexual Battery, 243.4 PC, and Annoy or molest children, 647.6(a)(1) PC. The suspect was arraigned and five misdemeanor counts were filed; 2-counts of 243.4 PC, 2-counts of 647.6(a)(1) PC, and 1-count of 242 PC. The suspect remains in custody in the Los Angeles County jail with bail set at $100,000.00.

The victim described the suspect as Male White/Hispanic or Middle Eastern, Black Hair and brown eyes. 5’8 and 140 lbs.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is seeking the public’s help in locating and identifying other possible victims who might also have been victimized. Anyone with additional information is asked to call the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department Special Victims Bureau at 562-946-7960 or (877)710-5273(LASD) or email Specialvictims@lasd.org. Or if you wish to remain Anonymous, call “LA Crime Stoppers” by dialing 800-222-TIPS (8477), texting the letters TIPLA plus your tip to CRIMES (274637), or using the website http://lacrimestoppers.org

Count-Three Bandit Hits Valley and More, Caught on Tape

BOLO for Count-3 Bandit, hitting businesses in SFV and more Caught on video.



Los Angeles.  Detectives have released video of a bandit who’s robbed at least two businesses in the northeast San Fernando Valley, and is suspected in many more robberies as far away as Calabasas and Santa Clarita.

“We dubbed him the Count-Three Bandit because in our two cases, he’s told the clerks to, ‘Get down and count to three,’ as he makes his escape,” said Lt. Paul Vernon, commanding officer of the Mission Detective Division.  “You can also see him brandish a prominent 4-inch, western-style revolver.”

The Count-Three Bandit is a Black man between 25 and 50 years old.  It’s been difficult to gauge his age as he wears a large hoodie, which has a light-colored lining in the hood, and a dark bandana over his face.  However, witnesses have described his brown eyes as BIG.  He is tall, over 6 feet, with a thin to medium build.  He has a dark complexion and wears gloves.

Detectives, for sure, have tied this man to the Sept 15 afternoon robbery at the Good Night Inn on Encinitas Avenue in Sylmar, and the Sept 19 early-morning hold up at the Shell Gas Station at 12858 Roscoe Boulevard.  “But similar descriptions and videos from businesses in Santa Clarita, West Valley, Devonshire, and Calabasas, make us think this guy is responsible for many more robberies,” Lt. Vernon explained.

The videos released show the bandit walking into each business quite deliberately, with gun in hand and his face obscured by the hoodie and bandana.  He is assertive, pointing the gun and demanding the money from the till.  In both cases, he ordered employees to the floor and told them to count to three.

Anyone with information on these crimes is urged to call Det. Luz Montero, Mission Robbery Unit, at (213) 838-9896. Anonymous tips can be called into Crimestoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477), or by texting 274637 (C-R-I-M-E-S on most keypads) with a cell phone. All text messages should begin with the letters “LAPD.” Online tips may be placed at www.LAPDOnline.org, click on “webtips” and follow the prompts.
 

Rain is coming

Fall is here and the Rains are coming.  The first Rains mean Slick Roads.  Please Slow your Roll, allow extra time to drive and arrive safely. Watch for Kids.

How Social Media Can Make You a Victim of Crime

Actually, it's not social media that makes you a victim; it's YOU who make yourself a victim by how you use social media.

Would you stand in front of the ATM at the bank and flash a wad of dollar bills for everyone to see?

Probably not, right?  No, that would be like asking to be robbed.

But when you flash high-dollar items, gold, jewelry, new electronics on your Twitter and Facebook, or Instagram, you are telling the WORLD what you have.

Social media has made some people immodest and down-right ostentatious in their social networking, and that can make them vulnerable to crime.

Police used to tell people not to put the empty box for your new 60" TV on the curb on trash day.  It announces to the neighborhood and passing crooks that you have something of value to take.  Rip up the box and put it in the recycle bin where no one will see it.

The same case can be made for a little more discretion and modesty on your social networking.  Discretion is the better part of valor, and now it's the better part of social networking. 

Posting the pictures of the villa in Tuscany can tell friends of friends on Facebook that you are away and your house is free for an unsupervised visit.  Maybe a friend of a friend or a recent repairman's apprentice remembers that nice sound system you had, and know he has all the time in the world to remove your prized possessions.

In short, avoid putting your life (material wealth and home status) on BLAST!

Exercise discretion in social networking.  Join a neighborhood watch program. 

Be safe.