The Antelope Valley Times

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6 home burglaries, 1 attempt last week in Palmdale

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PALMDALE – Home break-ins continue to plague Palmdale. Last week (Aug. 4-10), Palmdale residents reported six home burglaries and one attempted home burglary, authorities said.

In a community alert issued Tuesday, Palmdale safety officials gave details on each recent home burglary and reiterated how residents can protect their homes from burglars.

Palmdale home burglaries reported Aug. 4-10, 2013

On August 4, one burglary was reported. The burglary occurred in the evening hours at a residence in the 39400 block of Southcliff Way. The suspect(s) attempted to pry the rear door and removed the screens to two rear windows. Entry was gained through one of those rear windows, which may have been left unlocked by the resident. No one was home at the time of the burglary. (ref -10991)

On August 6, three burglaries were reported. In the morning at approximately 8:30 a.m., a residence was burglarized on the 3100 block of Fern Avenue. The residents were home during the incident, and heard someone ring their doorbell several times. They looked through a window and did not recognize the person. The residents did not answer the door, nor did they acknowledge the person. A few minutes later, the residents heard someone jiggle the front door handle. Again, the residents did not make it known they were inside. The suspect then kicked open the front door. The suspect saw that the residents were home and immediately ran from the house. (ref -11050)

Also in the morning hours, a home was burglarized on the 6800 block of Buchet Street. No one was home during the burglary, and it is not known how the suspect(s) gained entry to the house. (ref -11085)

During the night, a residence was burglarized on the 4160 block of East Avenue R. Entry was gained through the bedroom window, which had a malfunctioning lock. No one was home at the time of the burglary. (ref -11047)

On August 8, one burglary was reported. During the evening hours, a residence was burglarized on the 4900 block of Essex Drive. The suspect(s) gained entry through a rear bedroom window, which had an apparently malfunctioning lock. No one was home during the burglary. (ref -11212)

On August 9, one attempted burglary was reported. The actually attempt occurred sometime between July 28 and Aug. 5 at a residence on the 38300 block of Division Street. The suspect(s) attempted to open a rear window. However, the window was locked and further secured with a piece of wood in the window frame. No one was home during the burglary attempt. (ref -11222)

On August 10, one burglary was reported. During the morning hours, a home was burglarized on the 37600 block of Lasker Avenue. No one was home during the burglary, and it is not known how the suspect(s) entered the house. (ref -11279)

If you have any information regarding these burglaries, contact Palmdale Sheriff’s Station Detectives at 661-272-2400. To remain anonymous, call CrimeStoppers at 800-222-TIPS.

10 Burglary Prevention Tips

  1. burglary prevention tipsNever leave doors or windows unlocked when leaving home, including second floor windows.
  2. Secure all obvious points of entry to your home. Pretend you are the burglary and plan how you would break into your own house. Install secondary locking devices (such as anti-lift devices, through-the-door pins, or track screws).
  3. Create the illusion that you are home using timers on lights, radios, and televisions.
  4. Use a timer or photocell to automatically turn on lights at dusk. Leave porch lights on throughout the night, even when you are home.
  5. Keep shrubbery near doors and windows trimmed. Don’t provide the burglars with a hiding place or climbing platform.
  6. Avoid displaying valuable items such as TVs and computers near windows with open drapes or shades.
  7. Use highly visible alarms signs, “Beware of Dog” signs, or Neighborhood Watch decals.
  8. Don’t leave your garage door transmitter in your vehicle, or at least keep it out of view (the visor is not a good place). Also keep the door locked leading from the garage into the house. If the burglar gets into your car you don’t want to give him/her easy access to your garage and then your house.
  9. Keep extra keys out of sight and in a safe place. Never hide a key outside, most hiding places are obvious to burglars.
  10. Organize a Neighborhood Watch group to protect your neighborhood. Contact the City of Palmdale’s Public Safety Office at (661)267-5170 or at publicsafety@cityofpalmdale.org. If you see suspicious people or vehicles in your neighborhood, contact the Palmdale Sheriff’s Station at 661-272-2400.

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Filed Under: Crime/ Safety

27 comments for "6 home burglaries, 1 attempt last week in Palmdale"

  1. Wow, this sucks.
    If someone was ringing their doorbell and they could see it was a stranger, why didn’t they just yell something through the door like, “We don’t open the door to strangers.” Another good response is, act like you are talking to someone in another room and say “Honey are you expecting someone?” Then say loud through the door, “No thank you whoever you are”. People need to remember, you are in the safety of YOUR OWN HOME. You don’t have to be nice to whoever it is outside.

      • Exactly. People need to get their kids to practice that and remind them NOT to open the door to strangers after school or any other time! Even if they yell, “my Dad doesn’t want any.” The bad guy will know someone (and Dad) is home and move on.

  2. Chalk up another, my brother in laws hoise was just robbed in East Palmdale near 20th and Avenue S. It’s a she so many lowlifes infest the AV.

  3. If someone rings the doorbell, like they did at 3100 block of Fern Avenue, and you don’t know them, as soon as they started to jiggle the door handle…YOU call 911 then….tell them someone is trying to get into your house…If the police don’t catch them at your place hopefully they can find them before they try someone else’s home. Good luck to all the victims trying to get back to normal….
    Start a Neighborhood Watch so you can let the other neighbors know what happened as soon as it happens.

    • if caught, they are just released a few weeks later so they can do it again…. these are the “non violent” offenders that are released all the time…..

  5. I see a lot of “gun” comments here about how cool it be to shoot a burglar – but the burglars are still out burglarizing and don’t seem to fear gun owners, here is why I think that is:

    1. Guns are exactly what a burglar wants -finding a gun(s) will make a burglars day, its easy money, or they might keep it for themselves if they decide to graduate to a higher level of crime.

    2. Most burglars are smart, only the stupid ones walk/drive through a neighborhood and pick a house at random. A smart burglar finds a spot where he can watch your front door, and when you leave, he sees you put your key in to lock the deadbolt and leave, and then he knows your not home.

    3. When a burglar breaks in, the most dangerous part is going room to room and making sure nobody is home, and he is aware of the risk of running into someone with a gun, so a burglar might be armed himself with a gun he got in a previous burglary and clear a house the same way the police would, gun out in front of him and going room to room. A smart burglar will always flee if someone is home, but in that line of work he knows he may run across an armed trigger-happy resident, and like any man, if faced with deadly force he will use deadly force in return, burglar or not.

    But that happens rarely, most burglars will be darn sure nobody is home before they break in.

    • People walk, ride bikes and skateboards thru neighborhoods to see what activities are going on and if ANYONE waves or says anything to them. They sometimes dress like joggers and act like they are getting a drink from someone’s hose, looking around for cameras or any sign of residents and neighbors.
      They pay attention to houses with dog signs to listen for a dog barking. Sometimes even coming up on the driveway. You’ll see the same guy for a few days in a row at different hours.
      Maybe cops, as part of their fitness routine, should ride bikes or jog thru neighborhoods, so they can get to know (by sight) the residents, who belongs where and can quietly see what is really going on. If they have their radios on them, they can radio for backup if they need to.

      It would be nice to CATCH the thieves and charge them instead of hearing about all the burglaries after the fact. I know, where there is 1 thief, there is 1000 more and we will never catch all of them.

      Occasionally, a new family will move into the neighborhood and the young kids (under 10) show up at neighbors asking how many people live in their house. I was told by John W. (a neighbor) that the kids actually asked if the parents slept in the front of the upstairs or the back.
      Another group of kids asked neighbors if our neighborhood has neighborhood watch. Those same kids have been told by a number of people to please stay off their front porches. Coincidently, the house across the street from them was broken into within days of them moving in. I know those kids are bored and luckily school is starting back to keep them busy.

    • One of these was between 5-9 pm on a Sunday, that doesn’t seem random to me, that’s a time when most people are home.

  6. Can we have George Zimmerman come and live out here? He can take care of a few of these criminals for us!

  7. So the count is up to 16 in two weeks, right? I’d say Palmdale is officially under siege from these criminals. But still no story on what LASD is doing about it?

    • Palmdale is no different than MANY cities in the US right now. Palmdale is just getting the information out to the residents so they are aware of what’s happening and can respond accordingly. I guarantee Lancaster and Santa Clarita could post very similar statistics.
      LASD can’t do it all themselves. Homeowners need to make the effort to secure their homes and neighbors need to look out for each other. We learned this during our first neighborhood watch meeting. It seems to be working too since we haven’t had any burglaries in our neighborhood since that meeting almost a year ago.

      • Stay vigilant Les and knock on wood.
        There are usually a few neighbors in a neighborhood who do all the “watching and reporting”. Others, turn their heads or act like they didn’t see or hear anything. They call the person who “watches” expecting them to call the LASD or check out what is happening.
        Many burglaries could be prevented if people whould let the strangers know they are seen. They try to blend in and look like they belong. Know who your neighbors are and know who the kids are that live in your neighborhood. Even if the neighbor kids hate you for keeping an eye on them, you may be the one to save them when they are falsely accused and you saw who actually committed the crime.

  8. Or prevent it by letting us shoot and kill the scum when they try to come in because when they get caught the courts just let them out to do it all over again…..

      • LASD has their hands full with this and every other crime being committed by the thugs that run rampant in this valley. Most of these people doing these crimes were asked to move here (lower housing whether you buy or mooch) and the people of the AV voted these fools in that asked the losers to come here, so now we get to deal with the crime, while the politicians are holed up behind gated communites safe as a bug in a rug. Notice these cowards do this stuff when “nobody was home at time of incident”. I will glady put them out of their misery if they step one foot in my house. I can hear it now “Say hello to my little friend (.45)” Boom! Problem solved! Creeps! How dare they lay one hand on what is not theirs! I say, they have what is coming to them.

    • You can already do that.One of these was in my hood and trust me, that is my plan.I most assuredly would be in fear of my life if one of these guys got in my house.Let’s see, shotgun or 380,hmmm.

      • go shotgun. safer for your family and will mess them up greatly. I have shotgun, A/R and .45 ready incase these dimwits try to barge in my home.

        Mess them up, let them bleed out. Wish it wouldnt be like this but people are crazy now a days