Culver Crest Neighborhood Association

(Received from one of our neighbors)

But what’s important to note is that this same owner needed to follow up with calls for more assistance from our police on another day and was met with delays and apparent indifference.  While we don’t have all of the details, our police coverage must remain among the best.  So, if you need police assistance, after dialing 911, call the police department direct at (310) 837-1221 and ask for immediate assistance.  

Our Crest connection at the police department remains Lt. Ron Iizuka, a helpful and involved gentleman who will assist us in assuring the safety of our neighborhood.

Unfortunately, we had a rarity on the Crest recently.  There was a burglary on Flaxton.  The police interviewed two witnesses and this is a synopsis of their account of the incident.  The burglary took place at around 9:30 am when the owner took the kids to school and ran some errands, retuning at about 12:30 pm to find her house had been ransacked.  Miscellaneous jewelry and a laptop computer were stolen.  Although the doors and windows were locked from the inside, the burglar figured out a way to jimmy open the sliding glass door at the rear of the home.  The perpetrators have not been apprehended.

 

We all have a duty to report suspicious activities in our neighborhood to help prevent these types of crimes.  Many of our neighbors have called the police when they see suspicious activities and the police encourage us to do so.  They have no problem investigating a false alarm.  It’s much better than having apathy from the neighbors while possibly a real crime is taking place.  The police department will be more than grateful that you take an active role.  So will your neighbors!

Now here’s how the Neighborhood Watch should work!  Last week,  Ilana Ostrin, a Ranch Road resident, found a small dog wandering the neighborhood.  Her husband Ron Ostrin, a former CCNA Board Member, immediately sent information about the dog with the dog’s picture to Rich Kissel, who posted the picture on the internet using the Culver Crest Neighborhood Association email list.  Another good neighbor, Charlie Stephens, after reading the email notice, saw the dog and directed the owners to where the dog was last seen.  Lo and behold, a family and dog reunion.  A great ending to this trauma as a result of great communications between our neighbors.  

This is a good example why it is good to be on the Culver Crest email list.  Please provide your email address to Mike Bauer at culvercity99 (at) aol (dot) com. 

On December 15th, there was an incident on Northgate at 1 pm.  A clean cut white male around 20 years old was door knocking for the purpose of selling magazines and/or looking for donations for the High School football team to go to Hawaii.  After being refused by a resident, he became very loud, abusive, and threatened to return and retaliate.  The Police were called and responded immediately.  The young man was not arrested but instead, instructed to leave Culver City.  Unfortunately, he continued to knock on doors that same afternoon.  That same day, a young white woman was also knocking on doors soliciting for similar donations.  She claimed to be a daughter of a family on Ranch Road but that was false.  She would not accept cash donations, only checks.  This is potentially another scam.  We have had instances here on The Crest where outgoing mail containing checks have been stolen from mailboxes.  The checks were then “washed”, a process that removes the ballpoint ink so that the thief can put in a much larger amount and change the name of the payee.   The Post Office recommends that you hand outgoing mail to your Mail Carrier, or bring it to the Post Office or some other secure place where mail is picked up.  While the above incident was unfolding, another call was received by the CCPD, this time to a home on Whitburn where they caught 2 hispanic male suspects opening a stolen package from the   doorsteps.  They were arrested. 

 

Please report any instances directly to CCPD at 310-837-1221.  Additionally, please be vigilant about calling the police if you see anyone going door to door that appear to have no particular purpose for doing so except to ask for money.  Protect yourself and your family.  Do not open the door if you do not know the person.  Door-knocking scams for donations are often used as a way to find out if anyone is home.  If no one answers the door, it’s an invitation to head for the back yard and search for an easy entry point for a burglary.  If you do answer the door, the solicitation for a donation is just icing on the cake!  If in doubt, ask to see their business license, which is required.  Any legitimate solicitor will have one available to show you.   Also, three black male youths were arrested on Sunday, December 17 on Galvin Street and charged with breaking and entering, burglary, and possession of stolen goods (jewelry.)  

 

Moral of story:  It doesn’t matter what race, color, gender, how they are dressed, or profile. The crooks are out there, so be on Neighborhood Watch…call the police on all suspicious activity.