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Cerritos Crime Report for the Week of May 14-20

Los Cerritos Community Newspaper will continue to keep the community informed about weekly crimes in our community. This is from the Cerritos Sheriff’s Department for this past week of May 14 through May 20.

15 Part I felony crimes were investigated last week, down by two cases from the week before. The only categories to increase were residential burglaries and vehicle thefts. All others in this report were down. Calls for service by patrol personnel were down from 279 to 271. The 2012 weekly average in calls for service is 263.

Residential burglaries were up from one case to four last week. Open/unlocked doors or windows were responsible for three entries and a window was shattered. Guitars, cash, iPads, TVs, jewelry, and Social Security cards were taken. The 2012 weekly average in residential burglaries is now 4.0.

Burglars are known to select their targets after knocking on a door for a period of time to see if anyone answers. We recommend that if you do not want to answer the door, from the safety of being behind that locked and deadbolted door, loudly announce that you cannot open the door at the time and the caller(s) should return later in the day. You have now demonstrated that you are there at the time and will be later. This is not a good situation for a burglar.

One commercial burglary was reported, down from two the week before. A storage unit was burglarized after a lock was cut. Golf clubs were missing. The 2012 weekly average in “other structure”/commercial burglaries is 1.6.

Vehicle burglaries were also down from nine last week. High-volume commercial parking lots were the crime scenes in both cases last week. One of the vehicles was an SUV. Backpacks and cash were the only reported loss items. The 2012 weekly average in vehicle burglaries is 7.4.

Any item left inside of a vehicle becomes “fair game” to the would-be thief. Items that are left in plain view are even more vulnerable and account for the majority of the cases. Vehicle burglary is the most frequently reported felony crime in the City of Cerritos. Why take a chance? If your property is valuable and important to you, consider leaving it at home or taking it with you when you exit the vehicle.

Vehicle thefts rose from two to three last week. Two occurred in high-volume commercial parking lots. Two Hondas and a Chevrolet sedan were stolen. The 2012 weekly average in vehicle thefts is now 3.9.
Even though we see more Hondas, Toyotas, and SUVs stolen compared to others, car thieves are not always as selective as you think and are most often just looking for transportation. Consider a steering wheel locking device that serves as a good visual deterrent.

Go to www.safercerritos.com for an extensive library of crime prevention tips, disaster preparedness information, and a variety of links to other pertinent sites.
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