Crime hits home for one Breeze staffer
Daily Breeze Assistant City Editor Josh Grossberg was victimized. Here's his story:
Somebody broke into my house yesterday and took some things of little monetary value, but were very important to me.
How did they get in? I left the back door open for the half hour I was gone.
It was trash day and I knew rain was coming, so I wanted to get the bins out early. I left the door open because I did only half of the trash cans and was planning to do the rest when I got home.
In other words, I was stupid. And some idiot criminal who has no regard for other people's belongings got lucky.
It felt like crap. I called 911. The three or four people I talked to were all very nice, very considerate. And they were all totally worthless.
They offered to send an officer over to take a report, but couldn't tell me when they would arrive. I told them I had to go to work, and asked if they could take a report over the phone. They said no, but they would transfer me to my local Los Angeles Police Department station. Maybe they could help.
I told the new lady the same thing. I was robbed within the hour. The thief could very well be in a neighbor's house. I gave them my address and my phone number, which I'm sure was already on their computer anyway.
Again they told me they would send an officer to take a report, but it would be on a priority basis and they couldn't tell me what time. And again I asked if they could take one over the phone because I had to leave for the office. No, I was told. That's not how it works.
Like many of you reading this, I work long hours. And like many of you, I don't have somebody sitting around the house with nothing to do. I know the police are busy, but so am I. And because they wouldn't take a report over the phone, a crime report has not been taken.
And I don't think I'm wrong to assume that the culprits aren't finished with their crime spree.
1 Comments
Leave a comment
About the Blogger
Larry Altman has covered crime in the South Bay since 1990. He's seen it all - the missing model who turned up dead in the desert, the wives found dead in trunks, the high-school coaches who get a little too close to their players. He drives his young colleagues nuts with his "I remember when" stories. He welcomes your tips and observations about the present, and you can mix in a little Lakers basketball talk if you like.
E-mail Larry at larry.altman@dailybreeze.com.
Twitter updates from Larry Altman
ADVERTISEMENT
|
|
About the Blogger
Denise Nix knew as young as grade school, when she spent every summer working on the camp newspaper, that she wanted to be a journalist. Denise has spent most of the last 12 years of her career in the courtroom. She joined the Daily Breeze in 2001, where she tracks and reports on hundreds of cases at every level of the justice system. And she's never, ever, seen a judge use a gavel.
E-mail Denise at denise.nix@dailybreeze.com.
Twitter updates from Denise Nix
ADVERTISEMENT
|
|
I called LAPD's pacific division when my car was ransacked and the desk officer asked "What do you want me to do about it?". I'm not sure what that means.
Possibly they are all busy looking for broken windows.