Police Beat: HBPD cameras follow hit and run, shooting in Redondo, ‘bank jugging’ in Manhattan

by Liz Mullen

Grant money at work

As previously reported, the Hermosa Beach Police Department recently received an $80,000 grant from the state of California for traffic safety and is using a good portion of it to crack down on people driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. 

In the past week, HBPD officers arrested 12 people for driving under the influence or drunk in public and are actively seeking a woman who drove into three cars after exiting a local bar.

“We do have one hit and run and we suspect alcohol was involved,” HBPD Officer and Public Information Officer Keaton Dadigan told Easy Reader. The incident occurred at around 1 a.m. on the 1700 block of Hermosa Avenue on Dec. 19 and involved a woman driver.

“It was a four-vehicle traffic collision with no occupants on scene,” Dadigan said. “The driver crashed into multiple parked vehicles and then fled from the scene,” he said.

All three parked car and the driver’s car were “totalled,” Dadigan. “Officer’s located evidence of impaired driving,” he said.

HBPD Chief Paul LeBaron is a big believer in using technology to solve crimes and the city has many high tech cameras in the downtown area that are aiding the ongoing investigation of the woman driver.

“Investigators were able to track the vehicle from where she came from. She was leaving one of the downtown bars,” Dadigan said. “We also located a video of her driving recklessly just prior to the crash,” he said.

Officers got to the scene about three minutes after the crash but the woman driver got away on foot. “I am not too sure of how she got away so quickly, whether she hid, ran on the beach …the video doesn’t show that.”

But HBPD has identified “a person of interest” and is continuing to conduct an ongoing investigation, Dadigan said.

“A lot of people are leaving the downtown area after getting intoxicated, not getting ride shares, clearly, and getting into some trouble,” Dadigan said.

That trouble includes people who were not in cars but drunk in public.

“In order to be arrested for being drunk in public, you need to be doing something that is disturbing the peace,” Dadigan said. “If you are just intoxicated walking around that’s one thing. For us to arrest you for being drunk in public it means you are either doing something — damaging property. screaming and yelling, or walking in traffic — doing something that is disturbing the peace.”

RBPD investigates shooting

Redondo Beach Police Department officers are investigating a shooting on the 2700 block of Vanderbilt Lane that occurred at about 5 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 22.

The victim was transported to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. RBPD said preliminary findings “suggest that this was an isolated event, and there is no known ongoing threat to the public.”

RBPD did not immediately respond to inquiries from Easy Reader regarding the shooting.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call RBPD’s detective bureau at (310) 379-2477, ext. 3652.

The RBPD has received a grant of $50,000 from the California Office of Traffic Safety to support its bicycle and pedestrian safety program.

MB car burglars steal cash, leave green slime

Thieves stole cash out of one vehicle, a catalytic converter from another one and left green slime inside a third in Manhattan Beach during the week of Dec. 12 through Dec. 18.

Manhattan Beach Police Chief Rachel Johnson warned residents earlier this year about “bank jugging,” a crime in which thieves wait outside of banks for would-be victims withdrawing money.

On Dec. 14 a little after noon, MBPD officers responded to a vehicle burglary report on the 3200 block of Sepulveda Boulevard. The victim had withdrawn cash from one bank, drove to a second bank and locked the cash from the first withdrawal in the car.

When the victim returned to the car from the second bank, the passenger side window was smashed and the cash was stolen.

On Dec. 15, MBPD officers responded to another vehicle burglary report on the 1500 block of Laurel Avenue. The victim’s vehicle, parked in the driveway, had green slime spilled inside the vehicle and the car keys were missing.

On Dec. 12, a catalytic converter was stolen from a vehicle parked in a parking structure on the 3200 block of Sepulveda Boulevard.

On Dec. 14, MBPD officers made a traffic stop on the 1800 block of Rosecrans Avenue at 4:37 a.m. Officers found tools used to commit catalytic converter thefts, as well as ski masks and gloves inside the vehicle. The driver and passenger were arrested. ER