Vandals threw rocks at the front door of the Palisades Garden Cafe, breaking the glass on the front door window.
At the quarterly Pacific Palisades Business Improvement District meeting on Wednesday at the Chamber office, Senior Lead Officer Michael Moore heard from two members who have been impacted by juvenile crime.
Topa Property Group executive Kristina Shahidi told Moore that their property at the corner of Sunset and La Cruz (the two-story building that houses Chase Bank, Taj Palace, Modo Mio and other businesses) had been overrun by high school (or middle school) youths.
Shahidi said it took the building’s security guard an hour to run these youth out from the different floors and the garage. She added that the guard had caught kids in various stages of undress in the building, who were possibly engaged in sexual activity.
Shahidi said that the building’s guards had repeatedly called the police for help this past year, but the police had never responded. She noted that the building suffered about $5,000 in damages in 2019 because of young vandals. Cameras have now been installed throughout the building.
Village School’s Manual Pardo, who serves as BID’s treasurer, said that last year some middle-school boys hopped the fence (trespassing) and broke a window worth about $1,000. The school has it on tape. He said he reported it to the police, but one of the officers asked if they wanted to press charges because it would mean the kid would have a felony on his record.
Moore asked for the officer’s name because he said that officers shouldn’t try to talk people out of pressing charges.
Finally, on Sunday evening, Palisades Garden Cafe’s front-door window was shattered by rocks. The crime was reported to police and the video of two possible suspects has been shown on the social media website, Nextdoor Palisades.
There have been numerous reports of youth who have caused trouble at the Garden Café (on La Cruz) and at the Palisades Recreation Center, especially on Friday, when smoking and drinking has been reported.
Circling the News e-mailed West L.A. Captain Jonathon Tom on February 5 about the most recent issues with youth, and he responded: “I’ll follow up with SLO Moore and his supervisor Sergeant Alpert.”
This is so unfortunate, but not new. The Palisades Village (original) has been the after-school hangout place for not only Pali Hi, but Paul Revere. A friend who lives in Westchester said her son takes the bus up here to hang out until they come for him around 5pm. I’ve seen the city bus disgorge about 40 students right there, corner of Monument. I was concerned the Caruso Project would be an added attention, but their security is probably a deterrent. But this now sounds like mob behavior. Cannot be allowed to terrorize us…