Police Beat: Deadly hands, homeless invaded home, burglaries, and missing cruiser

by Liz Mullin

Deadly hands

Hermosa Beach Police Department officers arrested a woman for assault with a deadly weapon after she choked a woman neighbor. HBPD started getting 911 calls shortly after midnight early Tuesday, Feb. 18,  about a fight between two women on the 200 block of 32nd Place, according to HBPD Officer Keaton Dadigan. Witnesses told police they saw a woman choke another other woman to the point almost of unconsciousness. 

“Clearly it was enough time to make the victim almost pass out,” Dadigan.

The fight began as a verbal altercation that escalated into a physical fight, Dadigan said. The woman who ended up being arrested confronted the other woman about making noise late at night. 

“If you assault someone in a way that could cause death or great bodily injury, that’s considered assault with a deadly weapon,” Dadigan said. “Due to the fact that she almost passed out and was choked in a way that could kill somebody, or severely injure them, it (a simple assault charge) was upgraded to assault with a deadly weapon.”

The woman who was arrested did not have any prior arrests. If the two neighbors had a history of fighting, it was never reported to the police. 

Homeless in a Hermosa Strand home

HBPD arrested a homeless woman in a home on The Strand on February 11 at 7:24 a.m. She told police she lived there. Another woman  who was house sitting at the home called the police. “The reporting party was housesitting while the owners were out of town,” Officer Dadigan said. “She arrived at the location for the night and she observed the lights were on inside of the house and she believed there could be a suspect inside the house.”

“There was some kind of disconnect going on with the homeless woman believing that she lived there,” officer Dadigan said.

The woman was originally booked on burglary charges, but those charges were downgraded to trespassing. “We believe that the female (suspect) has a mental health problem and there was a possibility that she didn’t have any intent to burglarize the location,” Dadigan said. 

The woman was taken to a hospital for a mental health evaluation.

MBPD investigating multiple residential burglaries: 

Manhattan Beach Police Department officers have been busy responding to real and attempted residential burglaries this year and that trend continued last week.

On Feb. 6, Manhattan Beach Police Department officers responded to a call about an attempted burglary at a home on the 1200 block of 3rd Street.

The residents were home and told police they heard what they believed was an aluminum ladder being placed outside their home. One of the residents went upstairs to investigate and found glass panels to their balcony door broken.

The residents then saw a dark-colored SUV drive speed away.

MBPD investigating multiple residential burglaries 

On Feb. 7, MBPD officers responded to an alarm call for service at a home on  the 1900 block of Flournoy Lane. They found a  broken door at the rear of the home. A safe and checks had been stolen from the home. No suspects were found and an investigation is ongoing.

On Feb. 9 at about 7 p.m. MBPD officers were called to the 800 block of Highland Avenue about prowlers. The resident, on his ring camera, saw two suspects climb over his back wall. The resident then saw the prowlers walking on Highland Avenue. MBPD checked the area but did not find the prowlers.

On February 10, MBPD officers were called to another burglary on the 300 block of 2nd Street. The homeowner returned home from a two-day trip and found the first floor laundry room door had been pried open and the home ransacked. Burglars stole jewelry and documents.

Since the beginning of 2025, there have been two attempted and eight actual residential burglaries in the city, according to MBPD Sgt. Andy Abreu.

At this point MBPD detectives do not believe one group is committing the crimes, Abreu said. “Until we make an arrest we have to believe there are likely multiple suspects and groups,” he said.

In response to the burglaries, MBPD detectives have been working additional evenings in unmarked cars watching residential areas. “Our detectives and crime analysts have been disseminating information to patrol officers regarding specific areas to focus on and details to look out for in order to potentially capture and/or deter burglars during patrol shifts,” Abreu said.

Cruiser, licenses go missing in Redondo

Burglars broke into three residences in Redondo Beach and got away with new license plates, a Skullbones beach cruiser bicycle and makeup bags and kits during the week of Feb. 7 through Feb. 13.

Two men in their 60s are suspected of stealing the makeup items from a locked residence on the 2700 block of Vanderbilt Lane.

A burglar broke into the parking structure of a residence on the 200 block of Yacht Club Way to steal the Skullbones bike, which was equipped with a front basket and surfboard holder.

License plates that had been mailed from the DMV were stolen from the mailroom of an apartment building on the 1200 block of the Esplanade.

Redondo Beach Police Department officers arrested a man who had stolen items from a store on the 1600 block of Kingsdale Avenue.

The man put items in a store bag on Feb. 7 and verbally threatened employees while getting in the store elevator to leave the store without paying. The stolen items were recovered by RBPD. ER