A quiet Wednesday evening in the Larchmont area turned into a high-end heist, after a homeowner returned to find their place ransacked and more than $100,000 worth of designer handbags gone.
Police say the owner left the house around 7 p.m. and came back to a front door left ajar and rooms torn apart. Officers responded to the scene and detectives have opened a burglary investigation.
According to NBC Los Angeles, the theft was reported after the homeowner discovered the break-in and missing bags. The outlet reports that officers took a burglary report on scene and that no arrests had been made as of Thursday morning. LAPD investigators are continuing to follow leads.
Neighbors on edge after string of break-ins
The hit comes amid a run of high-value burglaries in and around Larchmont and Hancock Park this year, leaving neighbors a lot jitterier about every creak and late-night car door.
In one Larchmont Village case last November, suspects made off with about $130,000 in jewelry, as reported by Beverly Press. Earlier attempted break-ins in the neighborhood led to arrests, according to Larchmont Buzz.
Residents say they are beefing up cameras, alarms, and gates, and swapping clips from doorbell and security systems while police continue multiple investigations.
Where stolen luxury goods end up
Investigators note that high-end handbags and accessories are easier to move than they are to track. Once stolen, they can be flipped quickly through fences and online resale channels, which makes getting them back a long shot.
A recent Norwalk and Los Angeles takedown that recovered roughly $200,000 in suspected stolen merchandise shows how fast these goods can be redistributed, according to Norwalk fence bust nets $200K cache. Authorities say that sweep was part of a wider county effort to disrupt fencing operations and organized retail theft.
How to help
Anyone with information about the Larchmont burglary or who may have video of suspicious activity in the area is asked to contact the Los Angeles Police Department.
Local reporting lists the Wilshire Division tip line at (213) 922-8205 and the LAPD’s non-emergency number at 1-877-LAPD-24-7, per Beverly Press. Police urge residents to preserve any surveillance footage and to avoid direct confrontation with suspects.
Legal implications
Under California law, going into a home to steal is charged as burglary and may be prosecuted under Penal Code section 459, which covers residential burglary, according to Shouse Law Group.
The value of the stolen property in this case easily clears the state’s grand theft threshold. Theft of property worth more than $950 can be charged as grand theft under Penal Code section 487, per FindLaw. Whether anyone ends up facing those charges will depend on what investigators turn up and whether they can track down the burglars.
