Missing person turns up at
burglary in Manhattan Beach
by Liz Mullen
Manhattan Beach Police Department officers are investigating two residential burglaries and ended up finding a missing person while responding to a third.
On Aug. 16 at about 2:52 a.m. MBPD responded to a report of persons trying to enter residences. This person did gain access to a home and walked around the living room for a while before leaving.
A teenager who lived there saw the person in their living room but initially thought it was a parent. MBPD found and arrested the suspect.
When the suspect was transported to the MBPD jail, it was discovered the residential burglary suspect was actually a missing person who was disoriented. The missing person was taken to a hospital for treatment as well as a mental health evaluation.
On Aug. 21, MBPD officers responded to a residential burglary alarm and found the front door of the home open. At the same time officers were at the home the homeowner was in the MBPD station lobby to report he saw two males carrying a ladder onto his property.
Officers did not find anyone in the home but determined that entry was made through a second story balcony and the master bedroom was ransacked. MBPD is actively investigating this burglary.
Also on Aug. 21, officers responded to another residential burglary on the 2700 block of Pine Avenue. The homeowner returned home and heard a noise upstairs and discovered the primary bedroom was ransacked.
It was later determined that entry was made by burglars shattering a rear sliding glass door. This is also an ongoing investigation.
There were 48 crime reports taken by MBPD for the week of Aug. 15 through Aug. 21, including three for assault, two for auto theft, six for theft, one for commercial burglary and three for residential burglary.
Redondo Pier shooter sentenced
Alexis Martinez was sentenced to 25 years to life in state prison in Torrance Superior Court Tuesday (Aug. 27) for shooting and killing Teddy Campos in the Redondo Beach Pier parking lot earlier this year.
Dressed in a Los Angeles County Jail-issued yellow shirt and blue pants, Martinez, 29, pleaded “no contest” to first degree murder as part of a plea deal with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. Campos was found dead, shot in the head, in a Pier parking lot stairwell in the early morning of Feb. 16.
Martinez did not speak other than to answer questions. He said, “Yes, Ma’am” and “No, Ma’am” to questions from Superior Court Judge Gloria White-Brown. Martinez called Deputy District Attorney Walter Quinteros “Sir,” when answering one of his questions.
Martinez’ demeanor in court was a stark change from a TikTok video he made and posted shortly after he was first arrested. (The Redondo Beach Police Department originally arrested Martinez for Campos’ murder on March 6, but had to release him when the District Attorney’s office declined to charge him and asked for more evidence. RBPD obtained that evidence and he was re-arrested on March 29.)
In early March, a cocky Martinez proclaimed his innocence during a profanity-laced monologue on TikTok and suggested the police arrested him because he is Mexican and has a tattoo on his face.
But since March 29, Martinez has been in the Los Angeles County Jail and in court his face was red and he kept his eyes down, looking at the defense table for most of the proceeding.
“He has shown a lot of remorse,” E.J. Montanez, Martinez’ attorney told Easy Reader in the hall outside of the courtroom. When asked why Martinez did it, Montanez walked away from an Easy Reader reporter.
Martinez and Campos did not know each other and the motive for Campos’ murder has been a mystery to the Campos family. Campos was close to his brother and two sisters and they each testified about how his death has traumatized the family.
“My brother was killed; shot in the back of his head,” Teddy’s sister Andrea Campos-Adam told the judge. “I don’t understand why this happened but I miss my brother so much,” she said.
Teddy Campos did not have his own children but was a favorite uncle to his nieces and nephews.
Campos’ brother Andrew told the judge that one of his daughters suffered from panic attacks and another suffered from sleeplessness since their uncle’s murder.
“He deserves more than 25 to life,” Andrew told the judge.
White-Brown told Campos she could not give him a harsher sentence as the 25 years to life term was agreed upon by the prosecution and the defense.
White-Brown told Martinez, “After 25 years, you will be brought before the parole board.”
The judge told the family she hoped that they could find peace.
RBPD: Beware parking lot scam
The City of Redondo Beach is alerting visitors and residents about a scam in which fraudulent quick response codes were placed on about 150 parking meters on the Esplanade and in Riviera Village.
The city does use two legitimate QR companies, ParkMobile and paybyphone, for parking meter payments. The scam involved a different QR code and directed people who used it to a “poybyphone” website. These codes on parking meters have been removed.
Anyone who has information about the scam or scammers or believes they were unfairly cited after using the fraudulent site is asked to call the RBPD at (310) 379-2477.
Sand-throwing suspect busted in Hermosa
Hermosa Beach Police Officers had sand kicked in their face — literally — among the crimes HBPD dealt with during the week of Aug. 18 through Aug. 24.
On Aug. 18 on the 00 block of Pier Avenue, officers contacted subjects about fighting on the beach.
One of the subjects would not give a name and threw sand at an officer’s face. This subject resisted arrest but was arrested. Then, at the jail, the arrested person bit an officer’s hand.
On Aug. 18 at 10th Street and Beach Drive, there was a verbal altercation between juveniles and an adult which started when the juveniles made comments to the adult.
The juveniles ran into this adult a short time later and the adult pulled out a can of pepper spray and used it on the juveniles.
On Aug. 23 on the corner of Pier and Valley Drive two suspects stole an e-bike and the bike owner witnessed it. One of the suspects was driving a vehicle and an HBPD officer stopped that vehicle.
The officer discovered the e-bike theft suspect was driving an unreported stolen vehicle and that suspect was arrested. The second suspect is outstanding.
HBPD found and returned to owners: a wallet and a suitcase. HBPD also found and destroyed a bag of narcotics found on the 400 block of Pacific Coast Highway. ER
