by Liz Mullin
HB fruit vendor’s forbidden fruit
Hermosa Beach Police Department officers arrested a fruit vendor for possession of a large amount of methamphetamine in plastic baggies, foiled a residential burglary and nabbed a thief who was involved in stealing a car and an e-bike.
HBPD has been warning the public about vendors selling fruit and ice cream without city permits, HBPD officer Keaton Dadigan told Easy Reader.
Over the Labor Day weekend, officers pulled over the truck of one vendor who had multiple citations for selling fruit without a city permit.
Officers saw him driving in the downtown area and conducted a traffic stop. When they ran his license plate it appeared his registration tag belonged to another driver.
Upon further investigation HBPD officers discovered the fruit vendor had an outstanding warrant for his arrest.
“After they arrested him for the warrant and conducted a search they found methamphetamine and various narcotics in his car,” Dadigan said. The methamphetamine was contained in individual plastic baggies in his truck, Dadigan added. The fruit cart was in the back of the truck and much of the fruit, including a watermelon, was on the floor behind one of the truck’s seats.
The man was arrested for the outstanding arrest warrant, the falsified truck registration and possession of narcotics.
“It’s unknown if he was selling narcotics or using narcotics,” Dadigan said. “We couldn’t prove he was selling it. All we could prove was he was in possession of it.”
“It just goes to show: Be cautious when purchasing food from un-permitted vendors,” Dadigan said.
Resident shelters in bathroom
On Wednesday, Aug. 28, HBPD received a call at about 6 a.m. from a woman resident who believed someone had broken into her residence in the north end of Hermosa, near the Strand.
The woman called from her bathroom where she had locked herself inside to hide from the intruder, Dadigan said.
“Reporting caller stated she heard a glass break and heard someone possibly inside of her residence,” Dadigan said. “We were there in two minutes and immediately set up a perimeter around the house.”
Once HBPD got there, the woman was able to exit the house and meet the police outside. “An individual came out of the side yard and officers apprehended that suspect,” Dadigan said. This suspect “essentially admitted” he had broken the glass on the rear sliding door and entered the home, Dadigan added.
“He told us he would basically pay for any damages,” Dadigan said. “His defense was that he was intoxicated and doesn’t remember what happened.”
Even if that was true, it is still a residential burglary, Dadigan said. This suspect did not have any prior convictions for residential burglary, but does have a criminal history, according to Dadigan.
Car thief steals e-bike
On Monday, Aug. 26, two suspects in a midsize SUV stole an e-bike parked in a parking lot on Pacific Coast Highway. One suspect drove away in the car, and the other rode away on the e-bike.
The bike’s owner saw the theft and called police. While the e-bike owner was talking to officers, another HBPD officer saw an SUV driving erratically and pulled the car over.
“Another nearby officer was able to locate the vehicle because the vehicle was driving recklessly and ran multiple stop signs,” Dadigan said.
On further inspection, the officer noticed the car was running but there was no key in the ignition. “The suspect advised that he turned on the car with a screwdriver,” Dadigan said.
That story didn’t satisfy the officer, who ran the car’s registration. “The vehicle came back to a Torrance address,” Dadigan said. “Officers had Torrance Police Department go by the address to see if the vehicle was possibly stolen. And Torrance PD confirmed the vehicle was an unreported stolen vehicle and had been stolen within the last hour.”
The car matched the description of the getaway car involved in the e-bike theft.
The man in the car was arrested for stealing the car and the e-bike. The man who rode off on the e-bike is still at large, but HBPD continues to investigate and has some good information on that person.
“Officers were able to obtain really good camera footage of the other suspect and possibly identify him,” Dadigan said. “Officers were able to arrest one of the two suspects and we’re currently attempting to identify and locate the other involved suspect.”
Late night speed, noise enforcement
HBPD conducted a traffic enforcement detail on the night of Aug. 30, the Friday of the Labor Day weekend and issued 15 citations, towed five vehicles and arrested four people.
“We have been getting a lot of complaints about loud, speeding vehicles leaving Hermosa Beach during bar closing hour, which is between 1:30 and 2:30 a.m. on the weekend,” Dadigan said.
The arrests were made for a variety of violations including possession of nitrous oxide, possession of narcotics and driving on a suspended license, Dadigan said.
Suspect follows victims from MV
The Manhattan Beach Police Department is investigating an incident in which suspects followed the victims from LAX, burglarized their car and then pointed guns at them.
The incident occurred on Aug. 28 on the 2900 block of Sepulveda Boulevard. The victims were having lunch after driving there from LAX. When they returned to their vehicle, they found it was burglarized and items stolen.
When the victims returned to their vehicle, so did the suspects who pointed handguns at them and demanded they hand over their other personal belongings. Despite being held at gunpoint, the victims did not hand over additional property and the suspects fled, driving northbound on Sepulveda. MBPD is conducting an ongoing investigation into the incident. ER
t, but when the employee called the police, the suspect pushed the employee and fled in a white sedan.
On Aug. 25, four men entered a store on the 1800 block of Hawthorne Boulevard, selected multiple men’s clothing items and attempted to leave the store without paying for the merchandise.
The store’s loss prevention employee tried to stop them, but one of the suspects punched the employee in the face and they all fled in a white Toyota sedan. ER
