Manhattan Beach Police arrested a man they suspect might be responsible for at least three car burglaries today.
Shawn Harriett, 24, of Rolling Hills Estates, said he had entered “over 100 cars in Manhattan Beach over the past 6 months,” according to police.
Harriett was arrested after multiple calls about car burglaries early this morning. The first call, which came at 5:15 a.m., said that the burglary took place on the 700 block of 35th Street. When officers arrived, they found that $300 in gift cards, $700 in American Martyrs scrip and an unknown amount of cash was taken. The suspect, however, was gone.
About half an hour later, police got another call about a male suspect who was riding a skateboard toward American Martyrs and trying to open car doors in the 700 block of 13th Street. They responded but couldn’t find the man.
Then around 7:11 a.m., officers responded to the area of 15th Street and Harkness Avenue and found Harriett slumped over in the driver’s seat of a blue Nissan Xterra. They found that Harriett was in possession of a stolen California driver’s license, $700 in American Martyrs scrip, gift cards, narcotics and evidence of identity theft. In addition, Harriett had used a stolen credit card this morning at Walgreens in Manhattan Beach.
During the interview with detectives, Harriett admitted to being responsible for the crimes which took place this morning, as well as a theft from a vehicle in Manhattan Beach in November 2014 and a theft from a vehicle in Hermosa Beach in October 2014.
When asked why he came to Manhattan Beach, police said Harriet answered, “You can come up in the Beach Cities, especially Manhattan Beach, every car is unlocked.”
His comments echoed that of Chief Eve Irvine, who told a packed town hall audience in Manhattan Beach last night to close and lock their doors and windows.
“We need to make ourselves harder targets,” said Irvine.
Harriett was booked on numerous charges, including possession of stolen property, burglary, fraud, possession of narcotic paraphernalia and possession of narcotics. His bail is set at $20,000. ER
