‘People are watching’: San Fernando Valley residents traumatized after yet another burglary attempt
The latest home invasion to strike the San Fernando Valley happened in Encino early Monday morning.
According to preliminary information, Los Angeles Police Department officers responded to a home on Firmament Avenue off Ventura Boulevard at 12:30 a.m.
The residents – who were home at the time – called police and reported hearing glass breaking, and video from the scene shows what appears to be one of the home’s back doors completely shattered. The home is behind a gate and has security cameras and an alarm system, but that did not stop the suspect or suspects from trying to break in.
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It is not known what, if anything, was taken during Monday night’s incident, but according to police, the suspect or suspects were likely “spooked” by something and fled the area quickly.
Frightened residents told KTLA Monday that the alarming rash of burglaries across the area is extremely worrying and downright traumatizing.
“It is scary, and it is traumatizing to know if you are going home [that you might not] have security,” Encino resident Stephanie Rosenthal told KTLA 5’s Kimberly Cheng, adding that she’s started taking pictures of suspicious vehicles in her neighborhood. “You just don’t know your surroundings, and people are watching when people are coming and going.”
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A neighbor told Cheng that he is looking into private security for his neighborhood, and another man who has lived in Encino for 20 years said he has never seen anything like this string of burglaries, calling the incidents “ridiculous.”
In order to combat the string of home invasions, residents are banding together, sharing surveillance footage and remaining in constant communication with their neighbors. Some area residents have installed more security cameras and alarm systems as precautions as well, but they ultimately believe that the safety problem rests in the hands of elected officials.
“It takes a whole village to get this under control,” another Encino resident, Aaron Weinberg, said. “We need our politicians to step up, the police to step up and the DA to step up [because] people need to be held accountable…this isn’t a free ride…you can’t just walk into someone’s house and steal.”
At least eight burglaries were reported in the Valley in July, and another two homes were targeted Thursday; no suspects in any of home invasions are believed to be in custody.
Anyone who witnesses suspicious activity at or near their home is urged to contact the LAPD.
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