Officer Brian Espin
Senior Lead Officer Brian Espin sent out a crime report for May 7-13.
He also sent out a more detailed report from detectives regarding the “Hot Prowl Burglary” in the 800 block of Toyopa Drive that occurred on the evening of May 13.
The suspects entered the residence from a backyard through an unlocked door. Suspects took the victim’s property and fled through the point of entry. The suspects got into a white Jeep Grand Cherokee Trailhawk with a stolen license plate and fled the location.
The homeowners’ children were home at the time of the burglary, and the daughter interrupted the suspects as she walked down the first floor to retrieve a delivery.
Two suspects observed wearing the same clothing were seen burglarizing another home in the Rancho Park area.
Suspect 1 was described as a male, with a thin build, 20-30 years of age, wearing a back “Unknown Future” hoodie, black facemask, black (skelton hand) gloves, black pants and white shoes.
Suspect 2 was described as male, thin build, 20-30 years of age, wearing a gray hoodie, black facemask, gloves, pants and shoes, and a Star Wars “Grogu” backpack.
West L.A. Detective Yoshioka (310) 444-1564, is seeking information about these suspects and the burglary.
What is not helpful are postings on Nextdoor that are not accurate. One woman wrote “Last week, a robbery occurred on Toyopa (near the park) at 7 p.m., and multiple cars on Ocampo and Alma Real were broken into that same night. Where were LAPD?
Another person wrote that the neighbor who was broken into said she was instructed by LAPD to remove her post off NextDoor and wondered why it had to be removed.
CTN reached out to Brian Espin on May 22, who said that only the crimes (below) were reported – “unless there are late reports that are filed online and we get them later.”
It became obvious that the person was asked to remove the photo because the license plate was stolen.
PALISADES CRIME UPDATE
AGGRAVATED ASSAULT :
May 7, 4:30 p.m. at Pacific Coast Highway and Sunset Boulevard. The victim and suspect married. They were in a physical altercation during an argument. The suspect grabbed the victim by the neck causing visible injury. The suspect was arrested.
BURGLARY:
May 13, 7:10 p.m., in the 800 block of Toyopa Drive. The suspects used an unknown took to gain entry in the residence. Victims were home at the time of the robbery and victim’s daughter surprised the suspects when she went to the first floor to retrieve a delivery.
GRAND THEFT AUTO:
May 13, noon to 1 p.m., at Pacific Coast Highway and Sunset Boulevard. The victim’s vehicle was taken from the street. The victim had left vehicle keys in a bag inside the vehicle. The vehicle was recovered the same day in another part of the city.
May 13, 10 a.m. to noon. In the 17300 block of Pacific Coast Highway. The vehicle was taken from the street.
THEFT:
May 12, 1:05 to 3 p.m. in the 15000 block of Bowdoin Street. The victim left behind property in the classroom. The victim returned the next day and the property was missing.
TASK FORCE RETURNS:
Members of the Task Force, led by Brian Espin, assembled on May 18.
Finally, kudos to SLO Espin for organizing the second Task Force Operations this year on May 18. The brush in the nearby parks, town and hills was scoured for illegal camping activity, to stave off the possibility of wildfires in the Very High Fire Severity Zone. More task forces are planned for this year.
Espin assembled members of the Los Angele Police Department, including Captain Craig Heredia, the commanding officer of the West Los Angeles Area and several Senior Lead Officers from other areas. Also in attendance were the LAPD Valley Motor Off-Road officers, the LAPD Beach Detail, a Santa Monica Conservancy Ranger, a California State Ranger, Los Angeles Station 69 Fire Captain Jeff Brown, Councilmember Traci Park’s field deputy Michael Amstel and volunteers from the Pacific Palisades Task Force on Homelessness.
After a debriefing and being assigned to different areas, teams canvassed hillsides looking for illegal encampments.