POLICE BEAT – Attempted Pasha break-in foiled
by Mark McDermott
Pasha Fine Jewelry, the site of a high-profile armed robbery last June, was again targeted by thieves in the early morning hours of Wednesday, January 18. This time, however, the attempted robbery was foiled by a burglar alarm.
The Manhattan Beach Police Department was alerted to a possible break-in at 5:20 a.m. that morning at the store, located in the 200 block of Manhattan Beach Boulevard. Officers responded immediately and found that the office above the jewelry store had been broken into in an apparent attempt to drill through the ceiling and gain entry to Pasha.
“They tried to cut through the floor. But they weren’t successful,” said Sgt. Andy Abreu, MBPD community affairs officer. “They were able to cut a little hole into the Pasha ceiling, but they weren’t able to gain entry. There was no property loss.”
Pasha was the target of a “smash and grab” robbery last June 24 when 11 men, some armed, entered the store early on a Friday evening and left with thousands of dollars worth of merchandise to waiting getaway cars. The incident attracted worldwide attention and punctured the community’s sense of safety.
Abreu said no arrests have been made in either the previous incident or the attempted break-in, but investigations of both are ongoing. He said it remains unclear what caused the burglars to give up the attempted break-in but it is possible they became aware of the alarm system. “Burglar alarms work,” he said.
Von’s robbery
MBPD officers responded to reports of a robbery at Vons grocery store on January 26, according to police reports. One suspect was detained immediately and a second fled in a vehicle. Officers pursued the vehicle through Hermosa and Redondo where the suspect eventually crashed and fled on foot. According to MBPD, the suspect was found hiding in a trash can, and resisted arrest no further “at the request of a barking police dog.” Officers recovered a large amount of stolen alcohol and arrested the suspects for organized retail theft, among many other charges. ER