Shops likely victims of same group

Andrew Edwards

Apparently the victims in a series of crimes, Downtown business

owners have arrived at work on recent mornings to discover their

shops had been broken into and burglarized during the night.

Police identified four businesses as having been the likely

targets of the same suspect or group of suspects. In all cases, the

thefts occurred during the night or early morning hours, and whoever

committed the burglaries is believed to have entered the locations by

prying open doors or picking their locks.

So far, police do not have a description of any suspects or

vehicle that may have been involved in the burglaries.

Community Services Officer Colleen Walloch said the majority of

the businesses had alarms, but as far as the suspects are concerned,

they aren’t a deterrent.

The average police response time to a burglary alarm in Laguna

Beach is around four minutes.

Shops named by police as being hit in the spate of burglaries are

within a boundary marked by Coast Highway, Broadway and Forest

Avenue. The businesses that experienced thefts are Violet Fashion,

Broadway Photo, Lippa Insurance Services and a shop in the 400 block

of Ocean Avenue.

The owner of the Ocean Avenue location asked that the name and

address of the business be withheld.

At Violet Fashion, police responded to an alarm at 6:33 a.m. Dec

11. The police report indicates the suspect or suspects were after

jewelry. Items were taken from a display case, and a trail of goods

was left behind.

On the morning of Dec. 10, the owners of Broadway Photo found

their door was open about six inches. About $700 in cash was lifted

from the register, according to the police report.

Esmat Alavi, who owns the shop along with her husband, said that

since the burglary, they “have changed the locks on everything.”

Police believe Lippa Insurance was hit Saturday night or early

Sunday morning. In this case, police records state, about $2,000

worth of flat-screen computer monitors were stolen.

The incident was not the only recent burglary at Lippa Insurance,

said Diana Doyle, the office manager at the location.

“They hit us twice in a two-week period,” she said, noting that

during an earlier burglary, computers valued at about $2,500 were

taken.

Walloch said the earlier crime was discovered Nov. 25. She could

not say that police believe both robberies at that location were the

work of the same suspect.

“I haven’t heard anyone draw that conclusion,” she said.

Measures taken to improve security at Lippa Insurance include new

locks, a new door jamb and alarm system, Doyle said.

Police have passed out fliers in the area advising business owners

not to leave extra cash in registers overnight, reminding

storekeepers to double-check doors and windows when locking up for

the night and encouraging business owners and residents to report and

suspicious activities or possible suspects.

John Ferrante, the general manager at Coast Hardware, received a

flier on Tuesday.

“We’re keeping our eyes open,” he said.