Recently in Burglary Category

This was from yesterday: Torrance SWAT nabs burglary suspect

I found questions waiting for me when I arrived today. Some residents of Torrance wondered what was up early Saturday morning......

Q. Larry, thought you might shed some light. Last night, there were a few helicopters buzzing around North Torrance (specifically 175th street) from about 3:30 until well after 4 am. Do you know what was going on?

Q. Maybe you can help me. I am trying to find out what happened in my neighborhood (177th Street between Hawthorne and Prairie) last night. A helicopter was circling the area in the middle of the night. We stayed in, but would really like to know what was happening.


A. Here's what Torrance police Lt. Mark Hein told me this morning:

Police responded to a burglary in progress at 3:35 a.m. in the 4000 block of 175th Place. The caller said people with flashlights were looking into cars.

The burglars ran when police arrived. Officers caught one immediately, but another took off running.

Police surrounded the neighborhood. A sheriff's helicopter circled above, and Redondo Beach police arrived with police dogs.

They found the burglary, along with the fact several cars had been broken into in the area.

The suspects were identified as Marco Perez, 22, of Long Beach and a female, Daisey Serrano, 20, also of Long Beach.

They were held on suspicion of burglary.

Our sister paper, The Beach Reporter, interviewed the Hermosa Beach resident who confronted a burglar from neighboring Manhattan Beach in his home last week. Here's their story.

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.

 

The Automobile Club of Southern California office in Manhattan Beach that was robbed earlier this month was burglarized sometime during the Monday holiday.

Employees arriving for work today found the office on Aviation Boulevard near Artesia Boulevard had been broken into, Manhattan Beach police Sgt. Bryan Klatt said.

The burglar or burglars, who entered through a door, rifled through some drawers but could not locate any cash.

Nothing was taken.

An employee arriving for work on Jan. 2 was forced to hand over cash to robbers who were waiting for him.

Torrance Superior Court Judge Hector Guzman explained that he was giving Elvin Worthey the maximum sentence he could because of a number of factors, including Worthy's criminal history and his "sinister" acts against a "helpless and unresisting victim."

Worthey was convicted of a slew of charges for breaking into a Torrance home, then confronting the resident who came home in the middle of the burglary. Worthey threatened the resident repeatedly with a gun, then took off with the car and valuables, including family heirlooms.

We'll have a full story, including the victim's statement to Guzman, later on dailybreeze.com.

Previous entries on Worthey are here.

Elvin Worthey Jr., who broke into a Torrance home and terrorized the resident who came home during the burglary, was not sentenced today as planned because the judge needed some time to read the prosecutor's sentencing brief. However, a "priors trial," where a judge is presented evidence about a convict's criminal past to determine if they are attributed to the right person for sentencing enhancements, was completed. Torrance Superior Court Judge Hector Guzman found Worthey, 26, did have prior convictions, state prison committments and strikes for attempted robbery, felony evading and auto theft.

While Worthey was not sentenced, Guzman did take a victim impact statement from his victim, which he can consider in determining the sentence. The victim said he testified about the things Worthey did to him - held a gun to his head execution-style, forced him under a bed, tied him up and stole family heirlooms - but he didn't get to previously say how all this made him feel. The bottom line is he will never feel safe again, and worries constantly about his family. Worthey listened to him speak, but seemed to be paying more attention to some family members in the audience.

He returns to court Jan. 13 for sentencing. I'll have a full story then.

I was out sick yesterday, so I'm a day late on this one. But a jury on Wednesday returned nine guilty verdicts for Elvin Worthey, who broke into a Torrance home, threatened to kill the resident and tied him up. We'll have a full story in tomorrow's Daily Breeze.

Redondo Beach's weekly activity report, this week by Capt. Tom Krafick:

11-17-08 (Monday):

Artesia Boulevard at Kingsdale Avenue: At about 9 a.m., Redondo Beach Police Officer Delery observed a suspicious person and contacted him. Officer Delery checked the person for warrants and learned that he had an outstanding felony no bail arrest warrant for robbery. The person was taken into custody without incident.

1700 Block of Rockefeller Avenue: At about 9 a.m., Redondo Beach residents locked and left their home. The resident returned home at about 8 p.m. that evening and realized that their house had been ransacked. The person(s) responsible for this crime appeared to have gained entry by prying open a window. The homeowners identified a significant loss in jewelry. This case is under investigation.

It's been a crazy week here inside the Court Machine, so I'm a little late updating some of my cases. I just learned about this one:

A robbery suspect who holed up in his San Pedro home for four hours will spend seven years in prison, according to prosecutors. Kevin Thomas St. Pierre, 38, pleaded no contest to 22 counts of robbery, attempted robbery and commercial burglary in Torrance Superior Court on Nov. 13, said Deputy District Attorney Don Syn.

St. Pierre made his plea without a deal from prosecutors, allowing a judge to decide what his punishment should be. He was believed responsible for holdups or attempted holdups at businesses in San Pedro, Torrance, Redondo Beach and Lomita.

Los Angeles police chased St. Pierre following a robbery in Lomita on Sept. 2. He fled to his apartment in the 900 block of West 30th Street and refused to come out. He finally surrendered after a special weapons team surrounded his home.