Elgin Nelson
Homeowners in Ladera Heights are wrestling with an unwanted presence this holiday season as surveillance footage reveals individuals, with some appearing to be working professionals, are knocking on doors, trying to enter homes that are either vacant to break in or gain an invitation inside.
According to an anonymous source, someone jumped her front fence, trespassed into her backyard, and attempted to enter her back patio door. Her security cameras alerted her to the intrusion and provided photos. The intruder left once they became aware that she and her husband were home. She checked with adjacent neighbors to see what their security cameras showed.
“They first started as selling solar panels, and then probably a month after that, it was the water systems of some kind,” said one homeowner. “My home, too, was broken into, so I know firsthand,” said another homeowner.
The LA County Sheriff’s Department is now investigating the manner that is leaving multiple homeowners frantic, noticing every new car in the neighborhood, and texting each other in group chats, prompting them to ramp up security.
“We’ve had one on the street we’re on. We’ve had back-to-back the same house in upper Ladera. And then two more that I know of,” said Desobry Bowens, president of the Ladera Heights Civic Association.
The spike in burglaries in the region has risen to 44% to date while 97% of the crimes are stolen porch deliveries and from open garages, according to statistics. Residents are asked to use one-time access codes to gates or garages, take in packages when delivered, or use a local delivery locker such as at Amazon Fresh.
“We don’t have a city that’s buffering us. We have the LA County Sheriff’s Department who’s at least 1,000 people undermanned, and our sheriffs work out of the Marina station, and they cover from Marina Del Rey to almost Crenshaw,” said Bowens.
“It’s just a matter of time that either they’re going to get hurt, or they’re going to go into someone’s home and either startle that person, or that person gets hurt,” said one homeowner.