by Liz Mullen
Task force to target e-bike violations
The Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach and Manhattan Beach police departments have formed a task force to address traffic violations, including e-bike violations, and juvenile crime over the summer.
“Traffic safety and juvenile crime … usually includes kids on e-bikes,” HBPD Chief Paul LeBaron said. “But it doesn’t just limit us to that. We are looking at all types of juvenile crime.”
RBPD Chief Joe Hoffman, MBPD Chief Rachel Johnson and LeBaron agreed on forming the task force following the Memorial Day weekend.
“Kids are out of school or they are about to get out of school and will have a lot more time on their hands,” LeBaron said. “We want to make sure that bad behavior is not tolerated.”
Some residents’ tolerance for e-bike bad behavior has reached its limit. Police departments, in particular the HBPD, are cracking down on riders of illegal e-bikes and electric motorcycles.
The HBPD has impounded 12 electric motorcycles, which LeBaron says can go as fast as 50 miles per hour. HBPD has been writing tickets for illegal e-bike riding, as well.
Last weekend, the HBPD issued about 110 traffic citations, according to HBPD Officer Keaton Dadigan. “Officers conducted a special enforcement on the north and south ends of The Strand focusing on e-bike speeding,” Dadigan told Easy Reader, in an email.
E-bike problems are not isolated to Hermosa or Hermosa kids. “While we at the Police Department pay a lot of attention to City boundaries, most people do not, so we see a lot of things that cross more than one jurisdiction,” MBPD Chief Rachel Johnson wrote in an email to Easy Reader.
“Having a task force helps us identify suspects, conduct enforcement in an intentional fashion, and address this issue holistically,” Johnson said.
As kids on bikes cross city lines, so will beach city police, under the agreement between the three police departments.
“Our patrol and traffic units developed a schedule for the coming months to deploy resources concentrated in the different cities at different times so that we can have a greater level of enforcement, with the hopes of sending a message that illegal use of e-bikes is not going to be tolerated,” Hoffman said.
LeBaron said that sharing information is a big part of the task force’s work. The new arrangement between the police departments will “ensure we are all focused on the same people if they are in a group that is moving between the beach cities causing problems,” LeBaron said.
MBPD arrest juvenile
in Metlox assault case
MBPD detectives and MBPD school resource officers arrested a suspect in an assault and robbery that occurred last month at Metlox Plaza.
The juvenile suspect was taken to Juvenile Hall on June 5.
On May 4, as previously reported, 10 juveniles accosted three juveniles. The10 stole an e-bike battery and a necklace and punched one of the victims in the face.
MBPD officers also arrested a male adult suspect in the case of an elderly female victim who is believed to have been defrauded of close to $1 million.
On May 31, employees of the Kinecta Bank flagged down an officer and reported suspicious activity in the bank. The elderly female was attempting to withdraw a large sum of cash, which alarmed bank employees.
The man and woman were seen entering a car together. The officer stopped the car and after investigation found the elderly lady suffers from memory impairment. The man was arrested for elder abuse.
There were 44 crime reports taken in Manhattan Beach the week of May 30 through June 6, including nine for theft. MBPD officers also took two reports for assault, two for vandalism, one for commercial burglary, one for residential burglary, two for vehicle burglary and two for vandalism.
Copper wire stolen from
Redondo home, business
A burglar or burglars stole copper wire from a business and a residence in Redondo Beach during the week of May 24 to May 30. In the early morning of May 27, a burglar entered the backyard of a residence on the 200 block of Avenue A and turned the security cameras so they faced away from the house. The suspect then stole an unknown quantity of copper wire from an air conditioning unit.
Between May 27 and May 28 a burglar or burglars gained access to a closed business in the 1100 block of Harbor Drive by using a ladder to scale the west side of the building and enter through an unlocked door.
The burglar or burglars stole an unknown quantity of copper wire from inside the business and then used a tool to cut welded bars on the exit door.
There were two robberies of open stores during the week.
On May 23, a suspect entered a market on the 4000 block of Inglewood Avenue, selected groceries and bottles of liquor and put them in a shopping bag. When asked by an employee to pay for the items, the suspect used the bag as a weapon, swinging it at the employee, while fleeing.
On May 26, a different suspect entered a store on the 1500 block of Hawthorne Boulevard, even though he was told the store was closed. The suspect took items off a rack and left without paying, telling the employee he would use his pistol if the employee tried to take the items back. This suspect was later arrested.
A 2019 Corvette, a 2019 Toyota Tacoma, a 2023 GMC Sierra pickup truck and a 2019 Chevy Camaro were stolen from different parts of the city during the week.
Drunken assaults, feuding roommates,
dumpster fire keep HBPD busy
Two assaults involving alcohol, two packages stolen after being delivered, two roommates still feuding, and a dumpster fire took place in Hermosa Beach during the week of May 26 to June 1.
On May 26 on the 00 block of Pier Avenue, an employee tried to escort an intoxicated patron who was involved in an altercation at the bar out of the establishment. The drunk patron spit in the employee’s face and grabbed the employee’s collar. The inebriated patron resisted arrest when HBPD arrived.
On June 1, also on the 00 block of Pier Avenue, patrons were at a table when suspects at the table behind them spilled alcohol on them. This resulted in a verbal argument which became physical.
On May 13 on the 400 block of Herondo Street, a package that was delivered to the residence was stolen. Another package, delivered to a residence on the 700 block of 24th Street on May 22, was also stolen.
The feuding roommates who live on the 300 block of 10th Street were at it again. HBPD responded to two calls of one roommate spraying the other with pepper spray on May 26 and on May 31.
A dumpster was set on fire outside a business on the 00 block of Pacific Coast Highway.
HBPD officers also found a lot of stuff during the week, including two iPads, a coin purse, a generator, two adult wallets and one kid’s wallet. ER
