Fourth time one too many for BevMo suspects
The case of the multiple, early morning smash-and-grab BevMo burglaries ended with a crash and Manhattan Beach Police officers arresting four suspects.
Deondrae Glenn Jenkins, 33; Emmalee Shaquica Rosser, 20; Marcia Mary Populas, 21; and a juvenile whose name was not released, were arrested for burglary by MBPD officers after a police chase that began just after 5 a.m. on Thursday Feb. 29 at the Manhattan Beach BevMo and ended in Inglewood.
There were three previous, early morning break-ins at the same BevMo, on the 1700 block of Rosecrans Avenue. Suspects entered by smashing the front door and leaving with multiple bottles of alcohol, prior to the Feb. 29 arrests. In the three prior incidents, police arrived after the suspects had left the scene, possibly due to a time lapse between the alarm sounding and police being alerted.
But when the BevMo was broken into at 5:12 a.m. Feb. 29, police were on the scene right away, and pursued the suspect’s vehicle, a Toyota Corolla, after the driver failed to obey commands to pull over.
“The officers arrived pretty quickly and they went all the way to Inglewood and that is where they (the suspects) collided with a wall,” MBPD Detective Joe Udeoji told the Easy Reader. Other police agencies assisted with the pursuit as the suspects traveled on the 405 freeway to the 105 freeway where they exited on Prairie Avenue.
“It was excellent police work,” Udeoki said.
Police found alcohol in the damaged suspect’s car from the BevMo in Manhattan Beach. “They took over $9,000 worth of liquor,” Udeoki said.
Five people exited the car when it crashed. Police were able to arrest four of them. One man escaped and the suspects who were arrested are not helping police with his identity, Udeoji said.
“They don’t want to give him up,” Udeoji said. “We don’t have any leads on him.” Police believe the suspects stole the liquor from BevMo to sell elsewhere, Udeoji said. They took all kinds of alcohol, including multiple brands of tequila and cognac.
“I know one of the people was involved in at least two (burglaries) based on the (store) video we have,” Udeoji said.
There was at least one similar BevMo burglary, in Marina Del Rey, Udeoji said.
The three adult BevMo burglary suspects were charged by the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office. All pleaded not guilty last week.
Deondrae Glenn Jenkins was charged with two counts of organized retail grand theft and two counts of second-degree commercial burglary.
Emmalee Shaquica Rosser was charged with one count of organized retail grand theft and one count of second-degree commercial burglary. Rosser was also charged with fleeing a pursuing peace officer’s motor vehicle while driving.
Marcia Mary Populas was charged with one count of organized retail grand theft and one count of second-degree commercial burglary.
All were arraigned on March 4. A preliminary hearing is scheduled at the Torrance courthouse on March 18.
MB Catalytic converters gone in 60 seconds
The MBPD took 39 crime reports during the week of Feb. 22 through Feb. 28, including one for assault, two for auto theft, three for residential burglary, seven for theft, and six for vehicle burglary.
The MBPD is warning residents that it is seeing a trend of catalytic converters being stolen from vehicles. There were five such crimes in the city that one week. The cars targeted were 2006 – 2007 Lexus RH 400Hs and 2006-2007 Toyota Highlanders.
The thieves typically work at night, parking close to the victim’s car and cutting the catalytic converter out of the vehicle using a mechanical saw in a few minutes’ time.
Mail stolen from Redondo postal trucks
Two U.S. Postal Service mail trucks were burglarized, with bins or buckets of mail stolen, in Redondo Beach late last month.
Both of the mail trucks were broken into on Saturday, Feb. 24,
On the 2400 block of Huntington Lane, two males of unknown age and ethnicity gained entry into a blue and white USPS mail truck through unknown means and took two bins of mail, at about 2:15 p.m. The suspects’ car is described as a black SUV Land Rover Range Rover.
Earlier that day, just after noon, two buckets of mail were taken from a USPS truck, which also was locked. Suspects may have used a key and the suspects vehicle is also described as a black SUV Land Rover Range Rover.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service will be investigating the thefts, according to Chris Siouris, spokesman for the service, which is the law enforcement arm of the USPS. USPS mail trucks have been burglarized by thieves who make counterfeit keys, he said.
Residents tip leads HBPD to stop van with stolen goods
Hermosa Beach Police Department officers arrested a suspect who was charged by the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office with four counts of residential burglary, one count of grand theft and one count of lying to the police.
Officers were told of a distinctive looking van that a resident said may have been involved in the theft of an electric vehicle, HBPD Chief Paul LeBaron told the Hermosa city council late last month. Officers were on the lookout for the van and saw it at about 4:30 a.m. on Feb. 21, LeBaron said.
The HBPD officers found other stolen property, including a motorcycle. With the help of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office they were able to retrieve the electric vehicle from where it was stored — outside of the city, LeBaron said.
“Detectives were able to identify six victims in our city who were victimized by the suspect,” the Chief told the City Council. “What are the takeaways from this investigation? First, we see, once again, how one person can be the source of many crimes.
“Oftentimes we receive multiple reports during a weeklong period of burglaries and it’s easy to assume multiple people are committing these crimes,” LeBaron said. “However, we know that a single criminal who goes unchecked can victimize many people in a community like Hermosa Beach. It is imperative that our community call 911 when they see something unusual, because that one phone call could prevent many people from becoming victims of crime.” ER
