Crime & Safety
Crime Blotter: iPhone Scam
The following reports were taken from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, Crescenta Valley Station. Arrests do not indicate convictions.
Three burglaries were reported in La Cañada-Flintridge last week.
A petty theft was recorded at 6:30 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 17, at a residence in the 300 block of Baptiste Way. The victim noted that a gold wreath was no longer hanging on her front door and had been stolen overnight.
At 1 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 18, a resident in the 5500 block of Ocean View Boulevard reported that a '08 Ford Expedition was burglarized overnight. The victim noted that the vehicle was left unlocked and an estimated $1,630 in electronics was missing. Stolen items include a Sony Vaio laptop, nylon computer case, Nikon Coolpix S500 camera and a cellphone charger.
Between Monday, Dec. 12 and Wednesday, Dec. 14, a victim bought eight fraudulent iPhone boxes from an unidentified suspect. The victim responded to a Craigslist ad and agreed to meet the suspect on Monday at a La Cañada Starbucks to purchase three newly sealed iPhones for $550 each. The victim agreed to meet the suspect again on Wednesday to purchase an additional five iPhones for $530 each. After paying for the iPhones with cash, the victim decided to open one of the iPhone boxes and discovered the box only contained empty carbon dioxide capsules. The victim opened an additional two iPhone boxes that were also filled with capsules and tried to contact the suspect, but was unable to reach him.
The suspect is described as 30 to 25-year-old male with black hair, approximately 5'4" and 200 pounds. collected the three opened and five unopened iPhone boxes as evidence.